Billionaire Carl Icahn teases letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook to promote new website

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited January 2014
Well-known investor Carl Icahn has sent a letter to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook continuing to push for a larger share buyback, and the billionaire plans to divulge the contents of the letter on a new website he will launch this week.

Icahn


Icahn took to Twitter to promote his new website, and also to tease that the letter to Cook will be published on "Shareholders' Square Table" when it launches on Thursday. As of Wednesday, the site simply advertises that it is coming soon.

The investor declined to reveal anything about the contents of his letter to Cook, but an unnamed source revealed to CNBC that the note is part of Icahn's continuing efforts to persuade Apple to initiate a larger buyback of its own shares. In return for accepting his pitch, Icahn has reportedly offered an "unknown pledge."

Apple already has a plan underway in which it will spend a total of $100 billion through 2015 on share buybacks as well as dividend payouts. But Icahn believes Apple should increase its share buyback program and spend $150 billion on its own shares.

Icahn is said to have about a $1.5 billion stake in Apple. While that's a considerable sum, it would not put him among the company's largest shareholders, particularly institutional investors with significant stakes.

Icahn


But Icahn's reputation on Wall Street gives him considerable sway -- enough to land him a private dinner with Cook and Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer in New York last month. Talks between the three men reportedly became "a little testy" at times, though Icahn also characterized the meeting as "cordial."

Though he has publicly said he believes shares of AAPL are "extremely undervalued," Icahn has a reputation for causing trouble with tech companies. He famously opposed Michael Dell's efforts to take PC maker Dell private, won three seats on Yahoo's Board of Directors, and is also credited with helping to force out the CEO of Motorola before the handset maker was bought by Google.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 46
    drowdrow Posts: 126member
    and i think we're all looking forward to telling him to get bent.
  • Reply 2 of 46

    I guess that makes sense: Knights had a round table, there are round table discussions, so it’s only natural that… 

     

    Wait a minute.

     

    Anyway, Icahn’t believe he doesn’t just shut up and sell already.

  • Reply 3 of 46

    CNBC - his own private publicity network, so wrong on so many levels

  • Reply 4 of 46
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    I guess that makes sense: Knights had a round table, there are round table discussions, so it’s only natural that… 

     

    Wait a minute.

     

    Anyway, Icahn’t believe he doesn’t just shut up and sell already.


     

    iCahn, unfortunately.

  • Reply 5 of 46
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Offer to buy back HIS shares, I'm sure he'd be willing to get the ball rolling by offering them up.

    Share buyback = debt or a massive tax bill if it is done too fast.
  • Reply 6 of 46
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Apples response.

    With 2% of the shares please piss off.

    And if anybody thinks that Steve jobs and Tim
    Cook are totally different this is proof. If Icahn had even started this with jobs he would be crying into his soup now.
  • Reply 7 of 46
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    People like Icahn have only one goal and that is to line their own pockets. It is inevitably at someones else's expense. He should be told to FOAD.
  • Reply 8 of 46
    asdasd wrote: »
    With 2% of the shares please piss off.

    2%!? He has $1.5B of a $475B market cap company.
  • Reply 9 of 46
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member

    I'm sick of this clown.

  • Reply 10 of 46
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member

    Apple buyback program is more than enough. No need to add more.

    That guy should lobby the US gov on corp tax rates so apple can bring is cash home. At least that would be usefull

  • Reply 11 of 46
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    2%!? He has $1.5B of a $475B market cap company.

    Right. Sorry. My mistake. My point still stands but stands taller.

    Why did Cook even meet him? He's a lone gun man. Most institutional investors and normal investors aren't on his side, he leads no shareholders revolt.
  • Reply 12 of 46
    pdq2pdq2 Posts: 270member

    Icahn is an a$$.

  • Reply 13 of 46

    With Apple no longer charging for the OS Upgrades, and giving away its own "Office Apps" (a dig to MSFT), I wonder if those moves could be characterized as a form of Buyback, which can be viewed as a way of re-investing in itself… Yes, one can get poetic with all that Wall St. terminology...

     

    Recently I saw Buffet and ex GE CEO, Jack Welch, asked about Carl Icahn ideas on AAPL. Those guys expressed Confidence in Apple by saying something like - Apple knows what it's doing…, they don't need advice from Icahn or anybody! 

     

    At 10/22/13 Keynote I've seen a lot of Confidence from Apple too. It looked real too me, as the presenters - The Men With The Plan! -  looked very Confident and Comfortable! The Wall St. is beginning to recognize that, although "they" already knew that there was nothing wrong with Apple. But then, Wall St. has its own "politics" and games to play!

     

    We can only guess what Icahn's, or anyone's, Game Plan is for AAPL, or anything else! Eventually, he'll sell his AAPL or whatever else he owns, and someone will Buy… The Cycles of Life continue as usual… 

     

    Seeing the Video about the New Apple Headquarters adds more to the Apple/APPL Confidence! When its built, it'll be a huge boost!

     

    Apple's New Retail Chief seems like a Solid Choice! She projects a lot of Promise and very Warm Vibe! 

     

    4K Video, 1 TB SSD HD on MacBook Pros, 128GB iOS Devices, 64Bit iOS,  iWatch, iTV are just the hints as to the Depth of Apple Things To Come! Eventually those Hardware and Software Specs Double and Improve in other ways:)! Rinse Repeat:)! "Sticky" Echo System:)!

     

    Those who Sold their AAPL will have to live with their regrets! 

     

    The True Blue Loyal Apple Fans will have lots to smile about for many years to come! 

  • Reply 14 of 46
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post





    Right. Sorry. My mistake. My point still stands but stands taller.



    Why did Cook even meet him? He's a lone gun man. Most institutional investors and normal investors aren't on his side, he leads no shareholders revolt.



    Why did Cook even meet him? To paraphrase a line from The Godfather: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

  • Reply 15 of 46
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    sog35 wrote: »
    With Ichan's help Netflix went up 400%
    The dude is smart and know how to manipulate Wall Street. 

    Netflix was going up 400% without this charlatan's involvement.
  • Reply 16 of 46
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    cityguide wrote: »

    Why did Cook even meet him? To paraphrase a line from The Godfather: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

    When he request another meeting Cook should tell him to go **** himself.
  • Reply 17 of 46
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Go away, Carl. Don't be greedy. You're in it for the money and not for the success of the company.
  • Reply 18 of 46
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member

    I don't understand guys like  Icahn.   How much money does anyone need?

     

    I realize that very large investors do have some sway with the companies they invest in, but if you can convince a company to do what you want and you know they're going to do it and you buy or sell on that knowledge, isn't that insider trading?   If not, it should be.

  • Reply 19 of 46

    Will this jack*** just go away.

  • Reply 20 of 46
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

    With Ichan's help Netflix went up 400%

    The dude is smart and know how to manipulate Wall Street. 




    Icahn was lucky with Netflix.  Its fundamental business was already on the upswing when he bought into it. He cashed out after amassing a huge profit, and Netflix stock is tumbling now. He was not so lucky with Blockbuster.

     

    So he knows how to manipulate Wall Street. That helps no one but himself and his firm, which exists solely to make money. His avowed position is to extract money from what he considers poorly-run companies. You'd have to stretch language to the tearing point to fit that definition over Apple.

     

    The Icahn Lift is a term created for what he does to companies. It's not complimentary, as it described how the stock price fluctuates, usually wildly. Lesser analysts have been doing to this Apple for years, opining on rumors, suppositions and prognostications. Apple's fundamentals are pretty sound, but men like Icahn see only bushels of cash - not what it took to grow them.

     

    If you want smart, listen to Warren Buffet: "I think the Apple management and directors have done a pretty darn food job of running the company...I do not think companies should be run primarily to please Wall Street and largely investors who are going to sell."

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