Wrong. There was never any "legal effort," whatever that is supposed to mean. He proposed bringing a measure to a vote of the stockholders. This is what he abandoned.
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Carl Icahn Buys Additional 2.8M Apple Shares Raising Stake to Nearly $4.5B
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Wrong. There was never any "legal effort," whatever that is supposed to mean. He proposed bringing a measure to a vote of the stockholders. This is what he abandoned.
maybe his thought was buy right before they announce anything. that way if it is good...he wins. if it isn't so good, he buys a bit more when it lowers getting a larger stake. then when Apple finally does release something (as Tim Cook has mentioned a "big year") then it pays off again.
he has lots of money to toss around "willy nilly" and not really have a care.
OR...it could be some insider info.
He can buy as many as he wishes to buy. Stockholders can vote their shares without attending the annual meeting. He doesn't have anywhere close to enough shares to force himself onto the board, and in any case you saying that he's going to get out after the split kind of defeats the argument that he wants to be on the board. The split will not increase the share price in any event, and like any other investor, Icahn will get out when he meets whatever financial objectives he has set for himself.
I have a lot of respect for Stephen Mayne, its a localised example but there are thousands of such activists kicking about. Most simply want to push for things like transparency and accountability. Icahn is not an activist shareholder imho, he is more like a financial services pariah/parasite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Mayne
He's been investing for a while now. This is him adding shares as he slowly shifts his net worth more and more into AAPL. You don't make a move like that all at once.
I doubt there'd be any kind of dip in stock price if he sold all his shares. First of all, he probably wouldn't do it all at once, it's unlikely he'd get the price he'd want trying to dump everything in one day. It's been a while since I looked at AAPL's trading volume but it's probably not millions of shares. Remember, in order to sell, you need to have a buyer. He also doesn't own enough shares to make much of a dent in the supply and demand of Apple stock whatever his market actions.
Second, Apple's reserves have nothing to do with anything. Icahn can't just show up at Apple HQ one day with some paper and demand Apple buys it from him. He's going to sell his AAPL shares on the stock exchange to other investors.
Third, I don't think Icahn has enough personal net worth to buy enough shares to warrant a seat on the board, not without AAPL tanking massively first. If that were to happen, I'm sure a smart investor like Icahn would sell his shares before the price dropped that low, or his net worth would also tank.
You're right, though, that Icahn is doing absolutely nothing wrong. I really don't understand why he attracts so much hate on these forums. Anyone can invest in AAPL and anyone can make public statements about what they think Apple should do to manage the company. Heck, people do just that every day on these forums. I'm sure Tim Cook and the board listen to Icahn exactly as much as they listen to all of us
.You probably shouldn't comment on stories you don't understand. Sorry to be so blunt, but the level of ignorance of how the stock market works in your post is stunning. I'll give you a hint: Carl Icahn isn't giving any money whatsoever to Apple.
It worked for me when he was trying to chew up Lionsgate. Hated spending so much time checking it though. I like to set it and forget it for awhile, but no way when Icahn has decided to stir the pot that some of your money is in. I just told myself don't forget to sell too soon... and don't second guess yourself after you do it. I sometimes wish Icahn would get a hobby with less, I dunno... drama.
Agreed 100%. Marcus Lemonis (the guy with the TV show) would be is a good activist investor.
A successful passes the following 6 tests.
1) A legitimate market to serve
2) A legitimate plan to serve market
3) A legitimate framework to honor stakeholders (suppliers+employees+investors+customers)
4) A legitimate product to serve market with
5) A legitimate message to present product with
6) A legitimate execution of the above
A true activist investor finds a company struggling for survival due to a simple failing of a single test, then puts his/her own money in that company in an effort to save the company.
What has Icahn done? He has advocated stock buyback and dividend offerings.
Do either stock buyback or dividends affect the OPERATIONS of the company? NO!!!! All they do is deplete the company of cash it could otherwise have used to invest in growth (perhaps even US factory expansion?).
Calling Icahn an activist investor is an insult to activist investors. He is just a busybody meddler.
Ichan has bought shares in the market - from existing holderes, his purchase doesn't give Apple any more money. Personally I am glad Apple are increasing their share buy back programme and returning money to shareholders as the purchase of Beats, to me, shows quite clearly they don't want know what to do with all that money.
Unfortunately this wouldn't hurt him in any meaningful way other than possibly to raise his blood pressure, and it *would* hurt other decent people in very real ways.
Could you give examples of how this worked for you? Do you mean specifically with Apple, or with other companies too?
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Most people don't feel the need to amass wealth beyond what they can use in a couple hundred thousand lifetimes, especially when it's to the detriment of the lives of others.
just AAPL for me, I've been buy it up. I bought a lot of it when it dipped below 400.
Warren Buffett?
This is what investors do. It's their reason for being. They get up every morning thinking about how they can make more money. It's what they are good at. They'd no sooner stop at some arbitrary point when they were still enjoying it, then you would at whatever you are good at.
I'm fairly certain Warren Buffet is using his money to do good in the world (as is Bill gates, albeit his didn't come through investing--- unless you count the $250m MSFT sunk into AAPL in the 90s.... I'm sure that's worth a nice bit of money now if they kept the stake >_>)
Also, Warren Buffet isn't most people.
The vast majority of investors (individual investors, anyway, corporations don't count as people) do not have more money than they know what to do with.
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Ah. I bought it at ~320, then again when it dropped to 400 (wish I'd sold at 700..).. then again at 520.
Warren Buffett isn't most people, but he can stand in for anyone who invests for the purpose of making money. What they do with the money is their concern. Some get involved with charitable work, some invest in other businesses. I don't see the point of trying to evaluate their needs any more than I want anyone but me evaluating mine.
FWIW, it was generally understood that Microsoft did not hold onto their nonvoting shares of AAPL any longer than necessary, so they were probably out around 2000.