NYU Stern professor J.P. Eggers examines the potential impact of billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn’s call for Apple to buy back shares and what it could mean for the company going forward. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg Surveillance.”
[Steve Jobs would have handled an activist investor like car Icahn] probably very poorly, actually. Steve definitely wasn’t a fan of being told what to do by anyone, certainly an outsider… an insider might [have been] able to push back to some extent, but I think he would have stormed off an tried to ignore Icahn as best he could.
Even if Jobs had wanted to ignore Icahn, and storm off, the reality is that Icahn has enough power at this point through ownership… the firm would not be able to ignore him completely. – J.P. Eggers
MacDailyNews Take: Icahn has less than one quarter of 1% (0.22%) of Apple. Whatever “power” he has, as far as ownership, is of the very low wattage variety.
Cook wil have to at leat some some serious conversations. What will come out of that, we’ll have to see… I really depends how much Cook has a clear plan in his mind for the cash he’s sitting on and doesn’t want to give it away versus he’s kind of uncertain, in which case he’s going to be more willing to give that cash back. – J.P. Eggers
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Do the math and the reality is clear: Icahn owns less than one quarter of 1% of Apple. Even if talking heads, pundits, and analysts don’t grasp this fact, Tim Cook certainly does.
Related articles:
Jim Cramer: Apple should give Carl Icahn a seat on the board – August 14, 2013
Apple stock hits $500, market value grows $100 billion in 48 days – August 14, 2013
Apple stock tests $500 level for first time since January – August 14, 2013
How Carl Icahn will accelerate Apple’s ascent – August 14, 2013
Billionaire Carl Icahn says Apple shares could trade at $700 with increased buyback program – August 13, 2013
Carl Icahn spells the end of an era at Apple; this is the end for the Apple that you knew and loved – August 13, 2013
Carl Icahn reveals large Apple position, reportedly over $1 billion; wants to see Apple increase stock buybacks – August 13, 2013
Apple stock goes vertical: The Carl Icahn effect – August 13, 2013
Look at what Icahn did to TWA – stripped the assets to get the cash with no concern about how fast the airline would die.
I sort of found it interesting that Icahn only had 10 total tweets ever before he tweeted about AAPL. I sort of wonder if that tweet was a shot across the bow to Tim that said something along the lines: “hey I can have influence in the media and over your stock so you better pay attention to me”. Hmmm.
No, it’s more of “I can use Twitter to manipulate the price to get more money for myself!”
EXACTLY!
Icahn: I think Apple should…blah…blah…blah…
Cook: Thanks for your input. (yawn)
“Please leave us alone.”
-Steve Jobs
I was thinking more along the lines of “Go Piss Up A Rope Carl” but your’s will do nicely!!
Carl needs to go play with Dell, Microsoft, Google and Samsung.
Apple can take of itself.
Thank you very much.
Don’t let the door hit in your a$$ on the way out.
I’m not particularly fussed about reading the original article, but on my iPad screen, there’s a big black rectangle, bearing these words:
“You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content.
Please click here to continue.”
Sorry for the profanity, but what the fuck’s up with that?
What dimwit thinks that requiring Flash to view content on this site is a good idea?
Sheesh, sort it out, someone.
Video news articles are annoying and a symptom of the dumbing down of America. Reading is too difficult for a significant percentage of the population, so now I have to slog through several minutes of crap to find the one paragraph that is either interesting or provides vital information.
Totally agree w/you. Can’t stand watching some stupid video when I can read and digest an article in 1/10 the time.
While I totally agree with you, if you absolutely have to, you can get an app called “puffin” it handles flash for you on your ipad or iphone. Its a pretty good browser in itself too. Free and paid versions.
If he talks too much just grab an ipad and smash it over his head. problem kinda solved
That’s a waste of a very good tablet.
The Dracula wants more blood? What an arrogant bastard!
Dracula has one foot to the grave, but still greedy. What would he do with all the money in HELL?.
Can he buy a mansion, airplane, yacht, beautiful woman. I wonder?.
It’s about ego as much as it is about money. Maybe more. Hopefully Steve Jobs University has a course to deal with outside assholes like Icahn. But he’s like any bully, if you don’t stand up to them immediately they’ll try to keep fucking with you. This will be a good test for Tim Cook. He needs to get rid of the Carl Icahm circus and keep attention focused on Apple and its new products.
When you look at the personalities that SJ put on the board when he returned in ’97, you realize that this ivory tower dork did zero research before he started talking to Bloomberg.
Carl Icahn=Gordon Gekko
There are so many mistakes in the article above that it has no credibility as a considered piece of journalism.
First of all, AAPL was already up 12 before Icahn tweeted. Second, that Wall Street investors are lemmings is irrefutable. They drive AAPL up and down on rumors, decry Apple’s falling profit margin to a mere 36% as opposed to nothing for most of its competition, treat Android like it’s another OS not the fragmented shell it is in reality, buy constantly wrong stats from Gartner and IDC, etc. The only thing they should focus upon, they ignore, which is the tons of money the company keeps making. Apple will continue to innovate and make a lot of money, despite Samsung’s FUD. Seems all these analysts keep going for the shiny lure, like the dumb school of fish they are.
Hedge funds have no power over places like Apple. It’s the institutions who are the drivers. Sometimes hedgies can have power over the smaller players, an that’s how they earn their reputation(s). This is all my understanding anyway.
Is it too late to buy Carl a 1st Class ticket on the Titantic?
Quick, somebody tweet that Carl Icahn wants have AAPL’s baby. Five the price up in the next half hour.
No way.