Apple's Cook receives, sells off over 5M shares of AAPL stock worth more than $750M

AppleInsider

Apple CEO Tim Cook received more than 5 million shares of company stock this week, with the executive cashing out the entire award to come away with about $355 million.

The windfall of 5,040,000 shares, worth more than $750 million, fulfills payout of a stock deal Cook reached when he took over as CEO in 2011.

Cook's award included 3,920,000 time-based and 1,120,000 performance-based restricted stock units that vested in full. To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

rob53

Tacky photo having nothing to do with getting and selling stocks. Come on AI, don't be like the typical news media. I see you hid the fact that he immediately donated $10M. Yes, that might be small compared to the amount he received but he'll be paying taxes and probably won't try to offset all of it with loses like some people we know.

mpantone

AppleInsider said:

Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

So that begs the question: who are the twelve companies with better TSRs than Apple?

I can make some guesses: Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA).

Two other likely candidates are Visa (V), and MasterCard (MC). That leaves four other companies.

edited August 2021

dmskalnm

Not sure how his award works, but did he just pay short term capital gains tax on $751 million of stock? Nice of him to donate to Uncle Sam I guess, but he couldn't wait a year?

mobird

The capital gains tax would be accounted for when he files his yearly income taxes I believe, if not please amend accordingly.

carnegie

dmskalnm said:

Not sure how his award works, but did he just pay short term capital gains tax on $751 million of stock? Nice of him to donate to Uncle Sam I guess, but he couldn't wait a year?

He’s taxed on $754 million as ordinary income. That’s the value of the shares when they vested on Tuesday, based on the closing price that day. He owes taxes on that income whether he sells the shares or not. Apple typically withholds a portion of the shares - a little over 50% in Mr. Cook’s case - and remits their value to taxing authorities to cover withholding requirements. Those share don’t actually get sold. Instead Apple remits their value for tax purposes and they effectively were never issued.

Mr. Cook would also have a short term capital loss of about $2.5 million because the shares he sold went down in value (on average) by the time he sold them the next day. In the alternative, he might have a long term capital gain on those shares. It depends on how he accounts for stock sales - first in, first out (FIFO) or last in, first out (LIFO). The shares he sold on Wednesday could be considered to be the shares he just got on Tuesday or they could be considered to be shares he had previously.

radarthekat

mpantone said:

AppleInsider said:

Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

So that begs the question: who are the twelve companies with better TSRs than Apple?

I can make some guesses: Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA).

Two other likely candidates are Visa (V), and MasterCard (MC). That leaves four other companies.

Tesla wasn’t an S&P 500 component for all three years, so that one is out. 

edited August 2021

georgebmac

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

That kind of thing was at the heart of the 2008 crash:   Bank executives knew that they were writing bad loans that would come back to bite them or (hopefully) others -- but they were reaping enormous bonuses by doing it.

Then, instead of holding onto that Apple stock, he sold every share.

So, while Apple corporate buys shares, their CEO sells them!

Now THIS needs investigated -- at least by Apple's board.

But, it may not be necessary, I see Tim retiring in a year or so...

david h dennis

I wonder what he needs $350m for (half his gross income of $700m - the other half, alas, goes immediately to taxes).

That’s an awfully big house and I haven’t seen him much into real estate.

I wonder what investment he likes more than just holding Apple.

buttesilver

David H Dennis said:

I wonder what investment he likes more than just holding Apple.

Islands...all the mega-wealthy buying islands, including Obamas and others...it's the thing when the world is crashing around you!

buttesilver

rob53 said:

Tacky photo having nothing to do with getting and selling stocks. Come on AI, don't be like the typical news media. I see you hid the fact that he immediately donated $10M. Yes, that might be small compared to the amount he received but he'll be paying taxes and probably won't try to offset all of it with loses like some people we know.

OMG Cindy, lighten up!  I think most folks get that it's humor - and I know I'd look like that if I just sold $750M in stock!

mpantone

David H Dennis said:

I wonder what he needs $350m for (half his gross income of $700m - the other half, alas, goes immediately to taxes).

That’s an awfully big house and I haven’t seen him much into real estate.

I wonder what investment he likes more than just holding Apple.

I’m sure he already has a diversified portfolio. With this large AAPL windfall undoubtedly he is rebalancing his portfolio. 

I’m guessing that he has sizable positions in the top 20 TSR companies. The cash will likely be transferred to a revocable living trust and invested in a variety of investments. 

Donating fully appreciated securities is a more savvy donation strategy than cash. He probably has piles of QQQ and SPY for such instances.

davidw

GeorgeBMac said:

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

What really needs explaining is how you now think that share buybacks can ....... PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN ... when you have consistently claimed that share buybacks ....... produce nothing of value and is simply giving money away. 

anantksundaram

GeorgeBMac said:

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

That kind of thing was at the heart of the 2008 crash:   Bank executives knew that they were writing bad loans that would come back to bite them or (hopefully) others -- but they were reaping enormous bonuses by doing it.

Then, instead of holding onto that Apple stock, he sold every share.

So, while Apple corporate buys shares, their CEO sells them!

Now THIS needs investigated -- at least by Apple's board.

But, it may not be necessary, I see Tim retiring in a year or so...

You are a veritable fount of made-up facts combined with wishes. 

Leaving side the fact that the primary purpose of the for-profit publicly-traded corporation in the US is to increase shareholder value (and thus shareholder returns), the impact of repurchases on market value has been studied to death. The evidence for share repurchases increasing stock prices in the long run is, at best, iffy. There could be a short term bump (what economists call a 'signaling effect'). It is merely a tax-efficient way to return money to shareholders when corporate cash is burning a hole in s company's pocket, and they dont have a lot of value-creating acquisition or investment opportunities. You can look up all of this stuff, if interested. 

Just because people mouth such nonsense on TV a lot doesn't make it true. 

Also, Tim is retiring in a year? Where did you see that?

mpantone

anantksundaram said:

Leaving side the fact that the primary purpose of the for-profit publicly-traded corporation in the US is to increase shareholder value (and thus shareholder returns), the impact of repurchases on market value has been studied to death. The evidence for share repurchases increasing stock prices in the long run is, at best, iffy. There could be a short term bump (what economists call a 'signaling effect'). It is merely a tax-efficient way to return money to shareholders when corporate cash is burning a hole in s company's pocket, and they dont have a lot of value-creating acquisition or investment opportunities. You can look up all of this stuff, if interested. 

This is correct. Share buybacks can also be suspended indefinitely if the climate isn't right since there is no commitment for the company to actually conduct the transactions. On the other hand, cutting dividends usually upsets shareholders. Apple has two main reasons to issue dividends: A.) to increase shareholder value (duh), and B.) to be eligible for inclusion in certain funds, pension plans, etc. which require companies to issue dividends.

Any company's cash reserves can be used for a variety of purposes. I've never heard of a company using all of its available cash for one purpose. Apple's share buyback program is a tiny percentage of their total available cash.

anantksundaram said:

Just because people mouth such nonsense on TV a lot doesn't make it true. 

This is also correct. Real investors don't listen to CNBC nonsense or "personalities" like Dave Ramsey. They listen to Jerome Powell and read SLOOS reports.

If Tim Cook is retiring in a year, that's a rumor (a decidedly sketchy one) because Apple has made no official statement. Tim Cook will be 61 in November. He appears to be healthy and very energetic. My own guess is that he has already set a window for retirement. It might be around age 65.

edited August 2021

mariowinco

Aapl is doing so well that probably they believe already that everyone there is a genius and no one outside can be better than one that’s inside.
I believe that Cook will stay as chairman and Williams or Federighi will do the CEO. 

georgebmac

davidw said:

GeorgeBMac said:

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

What really needs explaining is how you now think that share buybacks can ....... PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN ... when you have consistently claimed that share buybacks ....... produce nothing of value and is simply giving money away. 

Propping up share prices does nothing but rob the company of money to invest in itself.  It simply gives money -- often borrowed -- to shareholders.  If they don't want to invest in their own company, it would do more good being donated to a worthy cause.

georgebmac

anantksundaram said:

GeorgeBMac said:

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

That kind of thing was at the heart of the 2008 crash:   Bank executives knew that they were writing bad loans that would come back to bite them or (hopefully) others -- but they were reaping enormous bonuses by doing it.

Then, instead of holding onto that Apple stock, he sold every share.

So, while Apple corporate buys shares, their CEO sells them!

Now THIS needs investigated -- at least by Apple's board.

But, it may not be necessary, I see Tim retiring in a year or so...

You are a veritable fount of made-up facts combined with wishes. 

Leaving side the fact that the primary purpose of the for-profit publicly-traded corporation in the US is to increase shareholder value (and thus shareholder returns), the impact of repurchases on market value has been studied to death. The evidence for share repurchases increasing stock prices in the long run is, at best, iffy. There could be a short term bump (what economists call a 'signaling effect'). It is merely a tax-efficient way to return money to shareholders when corporate cash is burning a hole in s company's pocket, and they dont have a lot of value-creating acquisition or investment opportunities. You can look up all of this stuff, if interested. 

Just because people mouth such nonsense on TV a lot doesn't make it true. 

Also, Tim is retiring in a year? Where did you see that?

How is giving away money -- to anybody -- good for a corporation?   It doesn't matter how it's rationalized and justified.  It doesn't matter if they give it the homeless or to fat cat investors.   It's mismanagement. of corporate assets.

Yes, investors need and deserve a fair return.  But raping a company of the funds it needs to conduct and grow its business is mismanagement.

crowley

GeorgeBMac said:

anantksundaram said:

GeorgeBMac said:

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

That kind of thing was at the heart of the 2008 crash:   Bank executives knew that they were writing bad loans that would come back to bite them or (hopefully) others -- but they were reaping enormous bonuses by doing it.

Then, instead of holding onto that Apple stock, he sold every share.

So, while Apple corporate buys shares, their CEO sells them!

Now THIS needs investigated -- at least by Apple's board.

But, it may not be necessary, I see Tim retiring in a year or so...

You are a veritable fount of made-up facts combined with wishes. 

Leaving side the fact that the primary purpose of the for-profit publicly-traded corporation in the US is to increase shareholder value (and thus shareholder returns), the impact of repurchases on market value has been studied to death. The evidence for share repurchases increasing stock prices in the long run is, at best, iffy. There could be a short term bump (what economists call a 'signaling effect'). It is merely a tax-efficient way to return money to shareholders when corporate cash is burning a hole in s company's pocket, and they dont have a lot of value-creating acquisition or investment opportunities. You can look up all of this stuff, if interested. 

Just because people mouth such nonsense on TV a lot doesn't make it true. 

Also, Tim is retiring in a year? Where did you see that?

How is giving away money -- to anybody -- good for a corporation?   It doesn't matter how it's rationalized and justified.  It doesn't matter if they give it the homeless or to fat cat investors.   It's mismanagement. of corporate assets.

Yes, investors need and deserve a fair return.  But raping a company of the funds it needs to conduct and grow its business is mismanagement.

Yeah, Apple is really suffering from a lack of capital to invest.

/s

get off your soap box George, you’re embarrassing yourself. 

anantksundaram

GeorgeBMac said:

anantksundaram said:

GeorgeBMac said:

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

That kind of thing was at the heart of the 2008 crash:   Bank executives knew that they were writing bad loans that would come back to bite them or (hopefully) others -- but they were reaping enormous bonuses by doing it.

Then, instead of holding onto that Apple stock, he sold every share.

So, while Apple corporate buys shares, their CEO sells them!

Now THIS needs investigated -- at least by Apple's board.

But, it may not be necessary, I see Tim retiring in a year or so...

You are a veritable fount of made-up facts combined with wishes. 

Leaving side the fact that the primary purpose of the for-profit publicly-traded corporation in the US is to increase shareholder value (and thus shareholder returns), the impact of repurchases on market value has been studied to death. The evidence for share repurchases increasing stock prices in the long run is, at best, iffy. There could be a short term bump (what economists call a 'signaling effect'). It is merely a tax-efficient way to return money to shareholders when corporate cash is burning a hole in s company's pocket, and they dont have a lot of value-creating acquisition or investment opportunities. You can look up all of this stuff, if interested. 

Just because people mouth such nonsense on TV a lot doesn't make it true. 

Also, Tim is retiring in a year? Where did you see that?

How is giving away money -- to anybody -- good for a corporation?   It doesn't matter how it's rationalized and justified.  It doesn't matter if they give it the homeless or to fat cat investors.   It's mismanagement. of corporate assets.

Yes, investors need and deserve a fair return.  But raping a company of the funds it needs to conduct and grow its business is mismanagement.

Simple, really. Sometimes, managements believe -- and they may be right -- that shareholders can create more wealth for themselves with the money that belongs to them than the management can do on their behalf. It is the shareholders' money, after all. Also, it's a choice. No one has to accede to the repurchase request if they believed otherwise. 

There's no quote 'raping' unquote involved (what an offensive term to use). Apple has plenty of cash left to do whatever the heck it reasonably wants to do. And then some. 

georgebmac

crowley said:

GeorgeBMac said:

anantksundaram said:

GeorgeBMac said:

AppleInsider said:

To meet stipulations that would release the full allotment, Apple's total shareholder return needed to be in the top third of companies listed on the S&P 500 over a three-year period from Aug. 25, 2018 through Aug. 24, 2021. The company's TSR came out to 191.83%, putting it in 13th place among the 442 companies that remained in the index for the full three years.

Upon seeing the full measure of his award vest, Cook on Tuesday sold all shares in multiple transactions collectively worth $751.6 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The executive came away with $354.6 million after Apple withheld $397 million to satisfy tax requirements.

Following this week's selloff, Cook is left with 3,279,726 shares of Apple stock.

Early details of Cook's payday were reported earlier today.

With the 2011 compensation plan now complete, Apple's chief executive has moved to a new RSU grant awarded last September. The new package includes 336,987 RSUs and up to 1,001,961 in performance-based units.

As noted by CNBC, SEC filings also show Cook donated nearly $10 million worth of shares to an unnamed charity earlier this week.

Read on AppleInsider

Ahh!  So THAT explains Apple's compulsive use of Share BuyBacks -- even to the extent of borrowing money to do it with -- to PROP UP SHARE PRICES AND SHAREHOLDER RETURN.

That kind of thing was at the heart of the 2008 crash:   Bank executives knew that they were writing bad loans that would come back to bite them or (hopefully) others -- but they were reaping enormous bonuses by doing it.

Then, instead of holding onto that Apple stock, he sold every share.

So, while Apple corporate buys shares, their CEO sells them!

Now THIS needs investigated -- at least by Apple's board.

But, it may not be necessary, I see Tim retiring in a year or so...

You are a veritable fount of made-up facts combined with wishes. 

Leaving side the fact that the primary purpose of the for-profit publicly-traded corporation in the US is to increase shareholder value (and thus shareholder returns), the impact of repurchases on market value has been studied to death. The evidence for share repurchases increasing stock prices in the long run is, at best, iffy. There could be a short term bump (what economists call a 'signaling effect'). It is merely a tax-efficient way to return money to shareholders when corporate cash is burning a hole in s company's pocket, and they dont have a lot of value-creating acquisition or investment opportunities. You can look up all of this stuff, if interested. 

Just because people mouth such nonsense on TV a lot doesn't make it true. 

Also, Tim is retiring in a year? Where did you see that?

How is giving away money -- to anybody -- good for a corporation?   It doesn't matter how it's rationalized and justified.  It doesn't matter if they give it the homeless or to fat cat investors.   It's mismanagement. of corporate assets.

Yes, investors need and deserve a fair return.  But raping a company of the funds it needs to conduct and grow its business is mismanagement.

Yeah, Apple is really suffering from a lack of capital to invest.

/s

get off your soap box George, you’re embarrassing yourself. 

No well run company squanders its capital.