Tim Cook sells off another $29M in Apple stock

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
One week after receiving a windfall of restricted stock units -- and cashing in a chunk for a $35.8 million payday -- Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday sold another batch of his sizable stock cache worth nearly $29 million.




Cook gained more than $28.7 million from 269,883 owned Apple shares, sold in a series of trades at prices ranging from weighted averages of $105.95 to $107.37, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday.

The selloff comes less than a week after Cook marked five years of success as Apple's chief executive officer, a feat that earned him 1.26 million RSUs -- 980,000 time-based RSUs and 280,000 performance-based RSUs -- per a compensation package dating back to 2011. When Cook took over for late cofounder Steve Jobs, the board granted him 4.7 million restricted shares set to vest based on tenure and performance.

While other top Apple executives routinely cash in their vested shares, Cook has until now stockpiled his awards, presumably living off a base salary that in 2015 was bumped to $2 million.

After this week's trades, Cook's trust holds 1,039,809 Apple shares worth about $110 million at the end of trading on Wednesday. Another batch of 700,000 RSUs is scheduled to vest on Aug. 24, 2021, while five 280,000-unit performance-based RSU packages are set to vest in annual installments through 2021.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,088member
    Would have been great if he announced instead:  "I'm holding onto all my shares.  I believe the stock is grossly undervalued"

    Instead of the usual corporate bullshit about "pre-scheduled selling of stock" and diversification 

    Why sell when the stock is at PE of 12?   How does one, as CEO, defend that?   Do you need the cash? 
    edited August 2016 jbdragonGymkhanabobroo
  • Reply 2 of 25
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,960member
    How can his trust hold over a million shares and they are only worth a million dollars when they are trading at over one hundred per share? What am I missing here?
    jbdragon
  • Reply 3 of 25
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    red oak said:
    Would have been great if he announced instead:  "I'm holding onto all my shares.  I believe the stock is grossly undervalued"

    Instead of the usual corporate bullshit about "pre-scheduled selling of stock" and diversification 

    Why sell when the stock is at PE of 12?   How does one, as CEO, defend that?   Do you need the cash? 
    That is the big question.  Is he selling because he's buying some massive estate, yacht or plane and doesn't want to take on debt to do it?
    Is he selling because he wants to make a big charitable contribution somewhere?
    Or is he selling because he thinks he can get a better return by investing elsewhere (or simply wants to be more diversified?)
    But we'll never know the answer unless he makes an obvious large investment that becomes public knowledge.

    The fact that he's selling implies to me that he doesn't think the Apple Car (or anything else) is going to drive fast growth of the stock price in the short to medium term.   In fact, it could imply that he knows that there's nothing revolutionary in the pipeline and that there isn't going to be any growth.   
    jbdragonGymkhanabobroo
  • Reply 4 of 25
    trashman69trashman69 Posts: 161member
    red oak said:
    Would have been great if he announced instead:  "I'm holding onto all my shares.  I believe the stock is grossly undervalued"

    Instead of the usual corporate bullshit about "pre-scheduled selling of stock" and diversification 

    Why sell when the stock is at PE of 12?   How does one, as CEO, defend that?   Do you need the cash? 
    Or "I am holding on to my shares - AND BUYING MORE SHARES.  I am doing this because the next iPhone isn't a snoozer AND we are finally fixing all of the neglected products and software issues that have pissed off customers for the past 8 years"
    Gymkhanagoodbyeranchlmagoo
  • Reply 5 of 25
    jimmyfrescojimmyfresco Posts: 3member
    He sold 20% of his shares, hardly a statement of non-confidence in the stock. Any prudent investment advisor is going to get him to diversify.
    ration alslprescottnolamacguyjony0ai46xzu
  • Reply 6 of 25
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    robin huber said:
    What am I missing here?
    A"1" and a "0"...
    They probably edited it after your comment (?).
  • Reply 7 of 25
    Addman7100Addman7100 Posts: 8member
    Well they guy only make about 1.5 million a year after tax and previous years less,, maybe he just want to have some fun  and do some good with it .
    ration albaconstangclexmannolamacguyjony0
  • Reply 8 of 25
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    zoetmb said:

    The fact that he's selling implies to me that he doesn't think the Apple Car (or anything else) is going to drive fast growth of the stock price in the short to medium term.   In fact, it could imply that he knows that there's nothing revolutionary in the pipeline and that there isn't going to be any growth.   
    I think you are reading this a little bit too far. It's fine to speculate, but at this point, everything you mentioned are all speculation since we don't know what is the exact reason Tim Cook sold his shares. We only know after the fact that he sold his shares. The rest: we don't know. In fact, it is highly possibly that his decision is personal, and nothing to do whatsoever with company future - short term and long term.
    topper24hoursnolamacguy
  • Reply 9 of 25
    kamiltonkamilton Posts: 282member
    If any of us held that many shares, at his stage of life, we'd cash some out and get the bucket list moving.  Diversify his portfolio?  Hell yes!  Buy a nice pad or some sweet vintage cars?  Hell yes and you can drop 10 million on a vintage Ferrari just like that (not that I have personal experience)!  I'll bet he'll do some great charity gift.  

    For what it's worth, regarding breakthrough products.  Really, nothing Apple did was breakthrough.  What they did and will do is realize optimized versions of existing ideas/products.  

    The Mac?  Fabulous execution of Doug Engelbart's vision, which predated what Steve saw at PARC

    The iPhone/iPad? Fabulous executions of Alan Kay's Dynabook concept

    iPod/iTunes? Maybe the most original execution of an Apple product, but still derivative.

    Apple is doing great and when the next, major stuff comes, it'll be the best, most secure and reliable stuff on the market.  I love the low PE, as there is tremendous headroom for share price.  Oops, gotta go, my Galaxy 7 just caught fire.  Shit the cat is smoldering......
    baconstangleighc-sfofotoformatjony0geekmee
  • Reply 10 of 25
    sjsterlingsjsterling Posts: 3member
    All CEOs sell some shares when they receive a large new grant of shares. Its because they need cash to pay the taxes due on the new grant.
    anantksundaramleighc-sfoSpamSandwichjony0ai46
  • Reply 11 of 25
    charles1charles1 Posts: 78member
    I remember the famous Apple analyst Robert Morgan of Apple Recon, back in the days of MacWeek magazine. He once said, "I'll start buying when the insiders stop selling." Of course at that time, he was talking about Bill Gates selling MSFT.

    Damn I miss Robert Morgan.

    http://www.pelagius.com/AppleRecon/
  • Reply 12 of 25
    GymkhanaGymkhana Posts: 45member
    Really miss Steve Jobs running Apple.
    tallguy
  • Reply 13 of 25
    GymkhanaGymkhana Posts: 45member
    trashman69 said:
    red oak said:
    Would have been great if he announced instead:  "I'm holding onto all my shares.  I believe the stock is grossly undervalued"

    Instead of the usual corporate bullshit about "pre-scheduled selling of stock" and diversification 

    Why sell when the stock is at PE of 12?   How does one, as CEO, defend that?   Do you need the cash? 
    Or "I am holding on to my shares - AND BUYING MORE SHARES.  I am doing this because the next iPhone isn't a snoozer AND we are finally fixing all of the neglected products and software issues that have pissed off customers for the past 8 years"
    Spot on, totally agreed
    tallguy
  • Reply 14 of 25
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,960member
    boredumb said:
    robin huber said:
    What am I missing here?
    A"1" and a "0"...
    They probably edited it after your comment (?).
    Indeed they did. 
  • Reply 15 of 25
    leighc-sfoleighc-sfo Posts: 29member
    I object to the term "windfall." The award of RSUs is a planned part of his compensation package, based on company performance, tenure, and other factors. Windfall, if you look it up, is defined as "a piece of unexpected good fortune, typically one that involves receiving a large amount of money." 

    I'd say this is no more a windfall then the monthly paychecks the rest of us take home. It's compensation for work performed, following previously agreed terms.
    fotoformatSpamSandwichai46
  • Reply 16 of 25
    charles1charles1 Posts: 78member
    All CEOs sell some shares when they receive a large new grant of shares. Its because they need cash to pay the taxes due on the new grant.
    No, Apple pays taxes automatically whenever a RSU is vested. It's called a "sell to cover."
    ...When this stock vests, an employee has three choices (it is possible, however, that an employer automatically uses option #2):
    1. A same day sale of all the stock. You receive the cash left over after subtracting withholdings.
    2. Sell to cover. The employer sells just enough shares to cover the tax withholding and you keep the remaining shares and can sell them whenever you want.
    3. Cash transfer. You (the employee) must come up with the cash to cover the required tax withholding amount. If you pay over the amount of cash to cover withholding, then all of the shares belong to you and they can be sold whenever you want.
    cnocbui
  • Reply 17 of 25
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    charles1 said:
    All CEOs sell some shares when they receive a large new grant of shares. Its because they need cash to pay the taxes due on the new grant.
    No, Apple pays taxes automatically whenever a RSU is vested. It's called a "sell to cover."
    That is the same thing.  Apple is liquidating the shares, but only as mandatory withholding.

    It really isn't that big of a deal though.  It is insane to have 100% of your net worth in your employer's stock, even/especially if you are the CEO.  It is more money than he will likely ever spend, so do something with it and create a legacy...
    nolamacguyai46
  • Reply 18 of 25
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    kamilton said:
    If any of us held that many shares, at his stage of life, we'd cash some out and get the bucket list moving.  Diversify his portfolio?  Hell yes!  Buy a nice pad or some sweet vintage cars?  Hell yes and you can drop 10 million on a vintage Ferrari just like that (not that I have personal experience)!  I'll bet he'll do some great charity gift.  

    For what it's worth, regarding breakthrough products.  Really, nothing Apple did was breakthrough.  What they did and will do is realize optimized versions of existing ideas/products.  

    The Mac?  Fabulous execution of Doug Engelbart's vision, which predated what Steve saw at PARC

    The iPhone/iPad? Fabulous executions of Alan Kay's Dynabook concept

    iPod/iTunes? Maybe the most original execution of an Apple product, but still derivative.

    Apple is doing great and when the next, major stuff comes, it'll be the best, most secure and reliable stuff on the market.  I love the low PE, as there is tremendous headroom for share price.  Oops, gotta go, my Galaxy 7 just caught fire.  Shit the cat is smoldering......
    Are you really crediting the idea guys over the execution guys here? Because I've got a ton of ideas that are golden. I guess I'm better than Apple too?
    fastasleepnolamacguyai46
  • Reply 19 of 25
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    kamilton said:
    Diversify his portfolio?  Hell yes!  Buy a nice pad or some sweet vintage cars?  Hell yes and you can drop 10 million on a vintage Ferrari just like that

    I don't think Tim's a car guy...

    http://www.businessinsider.in/The-sweet-rides-of-techs-millionaires-and-billionaires/Tim-Cooks-first-car-was-a-Porsche-Boxster-but-these-days-hes-been-seen-driving-a-BMW-5-Series-/slideshow/49952190.cms

  • Reply 20 of 25
    mindwavesmindwaves Posts: 98member
    I understand selling the first batch but the selling of this 2nd batch was much too soon.
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