“As the activist investor Carl C. Icahn presses Apple for a $50 billion stock buyback, some other major shareholders plan to push back,” Michael J. de la Merced reports for The New York Times. “New York City’s comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, plans to urge other investors on Monday to vote against Mr. Icahn’s proposal, arguing that the plan puts handcuffs on the iPhone maker’s management. ”
“He says Apple’s executive team is better positioned to decide the company’s financial path,” de la Merced reports. “‘I strongly believe this proposal is unnecessary, risky and shortsighted,’ Mr. Stringer said in a telephone interview Sunday. ‘It’s easy to get a quick financial hit off a large company, but I think it’s a lot harder to plan for the future.'”
“The emergence of Mr. Stringer, who oversees five pension funds that together own $1.3 billion worth of Apple shares, is the latest sign of a brewing battle ahead of the company’s annual investor meeting on Feb. 28,” de la Merced reports. “Mr. Stringer is joining the likes of Calpers, the giant California public pension fund that owns $1.6 billion worth of Apple shares and has spoken out publicly against the proposal.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: UPDATE: 9:43am EST: Carl has packed up his marbles and gone home:
Carl Icahn sees ‘no reason to persist’ with Apple buyback proposal
Related articles:
Proxy advisor: Apple shareholders should reject Carl Icahn’s buyback proposal – February 7, 2014
CalPERS criticizes ‘Johnny come lately’ Icahn’s push for additional Apple buybacks – December 12, 2013
I can’t imagine caring what Icahn, Calpers, or Stringer have to say about how I vote my shares.
-jcr
Unfortunately Apple has turned into a boring dividend stock. There’s no growth left any more because the engine of growth, Steve Jobs, is dead. There’s only an unimaginative caretaker in charge now.
It’s unfortunate but TC is not the most charismatic person and just doesn’t come across as exactly visionary. He should be a good manager, but since the departure of SJ, Apple has missed the mark on a few things, iMac delays, larger iPhones. So does that mean he is stretched too thin? Does he know how to make the gut decisions? Maybe he ‘thinks’ too much, that can be dangerous.
It’s like saying science stopping growing and advancing because Einstein died. You’re such a fool.
Hey! Left nut,
Your comment clearly show you are not aware of Apple’s patents and strategy.
Go cry elsewhere plz.
The biggest number of patents filed in the United States in 2012.
6457 patents to IBM, headquartered in Armonk, New York
5043 patents to Samsung Electronics Co., headquartered in Suwon, Korea
3173 patents to Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan
3017 patents to Sony Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan
2748 patents to Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan
2610 patents to Microsoft Corporation, headquartered in Redmond, Washington,
2415 patents to Toshiba Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan
1650 patents to General Electric Company, headquartered in Schenectady, New York
1617 patents to LG ELECTRONICS INC., headquartered in Seoul, Korea
1527 patents to Fujitsu Limited, headquartered in Tokyo
You see Apple anywhere? What patent strategy are you talking about?
The concept of patenting statements of intent has caused the creation or invention of new products struggling.
What is the point of umpteen thousand patents if none of them are brought to market?
The process should revert to its original intention, that of “Create the product first, patent it, then seek investment to mass produce it if you don’t have the capital or mass produce it yourself and sell it.
That is the clean and outright simple way it used to happen.
The patent body of the country of concept would then at a fee, register the patent worldwide with other countries patent bodies, thus preventing duplication and or copying.
Hey Smartass,
This chart summarizes Apple’s patent filings from 1993 to 2011. Apple has never filed many patents. It either licenses technology or it files patents under its engineers’ names, and have these patents assigned by contract to keep things anonymous.
Apple is #22 with 1136 patents.
I might also add that quantity is not equal to quality. For instance, Samsung and its ilk are hot and heavy into patenting things that have already been patented and demonstrated by Apple, and are nearing mass-market retail distribution on the iPhone and other iOS devices. Are these “patents” of any value? Many patents awarded worldwide in recent years appear to be invalid “concept” type patents. They should never even be awarded in the first place.
Aaaand, Nut, How about looking at how those various companies are doing with their oh-so-big patent numbers. What is their market cap? What is their annual profit?
Shut. The. F. Up.
When Steve Jobs was alive, he was the reason why Apple inc. shares were doing so well.
Dead, he is the reason why Apple inc. shares are not doing so well.
Where is the rhyme or reason in those two observations?
WDYJFOAD
Pension funds invest very, very long term. They do so in order to ensure that they can meet pension payments of the day and those of the future. A quick very large payout is an indication that the long term viability of the company doing the payout is on shaky ground, that is a sure sign that it is time to cash in on the shares and invest the proceeds in another that meets their needs.
Carl iCant’shutup just got served with a big fat NO!