Icahn to debate share buyback with Apple CEO next month
Apple has a $60 billion share buyback program to use cash and increase its share price, but shareholder Carl Icahn said he'll discuss increasing it with Tim Cook.
Activist shareholder Carl Icahn took to Twitter again on Thursday to advance his plan to amplify Apple's plan to buy back its own shares, saying he and Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook are scheduled to discuss the matter soon.
"Spoke to Tim. Planning dinner in September. Tim believes in buyback and is doing one. What will be discussed is magnitude," Icahn said in a tweet. Buying back shares can increase a company's stock price, and Icahn's tweets about the matter last week, when he disclosed that he has a "large position" in Apple stock, led to a surge in the company's share price.
Apple stock rose just 0.1 percent Thursday, to $502.96, and was essentially flat in after-hours trading.
Apple has been buying back stock since last year as a way to put its vast cash resources to use. In April, it announced an increase in its program, saying it's returning $100 billion of its cash to shareholders through dividend payments and a $60 billion share buyback authorization.
Icahn, though, wants a larger buyback program, he said on Twitter.