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Apple SVP Bob Mansfield Sells Off 99% of AAPL Shares

gnasher729

gnasher729

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Chupa Chupa said:
You are grossly predicting the reason he is selling. Are you a soothsayer? There are plenty of other reasons to sell that have zero to do with Apple's business prospects or his own at Apple. It could be fear of a cap gain increase in 2012, or the need to get into cash for personal reasons, or a desire to diversify his portfolio or a million other things. This sale tells us only one thing for sure: that he sold a lot of stock.
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I remember years ago Bill Gates selling lots of Microsoft shares, and some people here predicting doom for Microsoft. And I'll say the same thing as I said back then, just names changed: If Bob Mansfield goes to a store selling Ferraris, and he wants a Ferrari, all the AAPL stock in the world won't get him the car he wants. He has to sell the shares, convert them into cash, hand over the cash to the car dealer, and only then will they let him have the car he wants.

What good is it to him having all the shares if he doesn't sell and spend the money?
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

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gmcalpin said:
I'm not arguing with your point, but since when is the senior vice president of hardware engineering at what Jobs himself said today is "an engineering-drive company" a minor executive?
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I would hope that Mansfield's goals in life are: To develop the best hardware for Apple that he can, and to enjoy his life when he is away from work. For example by selling his Apple shares and spending the money. Do you think he shouldn't spend one penny that he makes with his share options until he retires? That would be just stupid.


thejadedmonkey said:
At least someone can see the writings on the wall!
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The "writing on the wall" that Mr. Mansfield saw is 13 million dollars in cash, with plenty of share options left, so that is plenty of money for a nice house, a nice car, nice holidays, and whatever makes his wife happy. Do you think he should drive a rusty old car, live in a tiny little flat, starve his wife and children, until these shares are worth 26 million?
 
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gmcalpin

gmcalpin

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gnasher729 said:
I would hope that Mansfield's goals in life are: To develop the best hardware for Apple that he can, and to enjoy his life when he is away from work. For example by selling his Apple shares and spending the money. Do you think he shouldn't spend one penny that he makes with his share options until he retires? That would be just stupid.
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…I didn't say anything even remotely related to what you're talking about. Why did you quote my post?

To response to your own post, though… no ****. Of course he should spend his money however he wants.
 
Mr. Retrofire

Mr. Retrofire

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This can only mean, that Mansfield knows something in advance, which most of us do not know:
Apple plans to support regular PCs with the next major release of Mac OS X (probably not 10.7, but 10.8). This means a huge increase in the number of sold copies of Mac OS X, which will have a good effect on AAPL. He buys his new shares cheap and profits then from the development. Not unlikely, if you ask me.

I think the "magic" device era is over. Apple TV for example is one single failure (compare it with WD TV and laugh). They even removed Front Row from 10.7. So what can strengthen Apples position in the industry?
 
Mr. Retrofire

Mr. Retrofire

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gnasher729 said:
Do you think he should drive a rusty old car, live in a tiny little flat, starve his wife and children, until these shares are worth 26 million?
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You should really look at his yearly income, before you make such silly comments. It almost sounds like we need to collect money for Mr. Mansfield, so he and his family can survive.
 
Mike Oxard

Mike Oxard

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Oct 22, 2009
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He's sold them on the same day that Steve Jobs makes a public appearance while on sick leave. Perhaps it's deliberate timing by him, as if to say "Yeah, I'm selling some stock, but Steve's still here and doing ok, nothing to worry about"
 
whooleytoo

whooleytoo

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rufwork said:
I'm going to hope this is a ~$350 triggered trade. I considered doing as much (setting a hard price near pre-leave levels at which I'd sell) after the price drop when Jobs went on his current/second leave. If Jobs were to become incapacitated, I can't imagine what would happen to the stock price, deserved or not. Selling now that AAPL's nearly back to pre-Jobsian levels is just smart. Reduces exposure. Puts the bird in the hand, etc.

But this also tells us Mansfield thinks there's no safer time to sell between now and his next option. I understand $350 being "good enough", but when your hardware guy doesn't see a reason to stick around, that's bad news. I mean, he can't help but be doing a little insider trading, right?

This is likely A Bad Thing for AAPL owners, and can be no better than A Neutral Thing, and the latter only if Mansfield isn't real bright, which we know isn't the case. How close we are to the former rather than the latter would seem to be at least partially correlated with Mansfield's business acumen.
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This probably is non-news, it happens quite often. I remember a lot of Apple execs dumping a LOT of shares when the shares hit $150 (which they bought at $12), including Tim Cook.

I am a little surprised anyone's selling in this volatile global economy. Apple shares are probably better currency than US dollars or euros at this point! :p
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

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Mr. Retrofire said:
You should really look at his yearly income, before you make such silly comments. It almost sounds like we need to collect money for Mr. Mansfield, so he and his family can survive.
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What "silly comments"? You seem to have missed my point, which is that owning Apple shares doesn't allow you to buy the things you want; to buy these things you have to _sell_ the shares.
 
nickXedge

nickXedge

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Feb 13, 2008
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rufwork said:
I'm going to hope this is a ~$350 triggered trade. I considered doing as much (setting a hard price near pre-leave levels at which I'd sell) after the price drop when Jobs went on his current/second leave. If Jobs were to become incapacitated, I can't imagine what would happen to the stock price, deserved or not. Selling now that AAPL's nearly back to pre-Jobsian levels is just smart. Reduces exposure. Puts the bird in the hand, etc.

But this also tells us Mansfield thinks there's no safer time to sell between now and his next option. I understand $350 being "good enough", but when your hardware guy doesn't see a reason to stick around, that's bad news. I mean, he can't help but be doing a little insider trading, right?

This is likely A Bad Thing for AAPL owners, and can be no better than A Neutral Thing, and the latter only if Mansfield isn't real bright, which we know isn't the case. How close we are to the former rather than the latter would seem to be at least partially correlated with Mansfield's business acumen.
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You used a lot of fun words but you still don't sound too intelligent because you're wrong. It's habit for him, he's a smart trader and profits greatly from his decisions. If you think Apple is about to tank, you have no idea what's going on with the company, and I mean publicy of course. (I'm not trying to act like I know secret plans, [satire] I'm no analyst! [/satire] )
 
T

TheUndertow

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Feb 20, 2011
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dacapo said:
Normally this would send a stock tanking, but if this guy has been pretty consistently doing this with his options/shares, then it's not really news, and share prices shouldn't be affected by this.

I suspect the article is just highlighting this pattern with Bob Mansfield so that no one gets the wrong idea.
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Up ranked and agreed...

On one hand, you're initial impression is something's amiss...

But who wouldn't sell shares in company stock when it's high...

With that said, while you "might expect more" than an SVP clearly working his companies stock for all it's worth (buying low, selling high) most sell their options at times to increase overall intake, and are just less visible.
 
T

TheUndertow

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Feb 20, 2011
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nickXedge said:
You used a lot of fun words but you still don't sound too intelligent because you're wrong. It's habit for him, he's a smart trader and profits greatly from his decisions. If you think Apple is about to tank, you have no idea what's going on with the company, and I mean publicy of course. (I'm not trying to act like I know secret plans, [satire] I'm no analyst! [/satire] )
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Not only that but the world is a bubble and a lot is going on across various markets.

He has more stock coming and maybe he has something fancy to buy?

Also isn't there other pressures being placed on the price of APPL shares?

I wish I had some and/or worked with Apple...$300+ per share, no matter the company, is a steep investment for an outsider.

They get a 15% discount!?
 
hob

hob

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Oct 4, 2003
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So Steve Jobs might announce his retirement over the weekend. By opening of trading next week stock's down 20% or more, he'll buy back what he just sold and then some...!
 
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