100 Apple iPads save Greece $140 billion
In the midst of a debt crisis totaling more than $270 billion, the country of Greece found salvation, and a large chunk of change, by using iPads to help restructure its debt.
The daunting task of restructuring Greece's debt fell to Bob Apfel and his company, Bondholder Communications Group, according to Fortune.
To help complete a complicated series of transactions in which the country's Finance Ministry agreed to settle for far less than the $270 billion owed, Apfel and his team used a network of iPads.
The task involved capturing approval from nearly 100,000 debt holders scattered around the world in a very short amount of time.
Armed with a custom-built debt-restructuring app, the effort's leadership, including representatives from the Finance Ministry, the Hellenic Exchange, the Bank of Greece, and three other external banks, were able to secure meetings with financial investors and overseers who would ultimately lead to Greece's debt relief.
The iPad and custom app allowed the team to access important data on the fly, including global clearing systems and back offices of banks around the globe.
As the team closed transactions on April 25, Greece's debt had been reduced to $130 billion.
"Split-second decisions were made that couldn't have been made without the data platform," Apfel said. "It was the largest financial transaction in the history of the world. And we couldn't have done it without the iPad."