Rich tweet: Icahn ups stake in Apple by $500 million
Potter's not selling, he's buying, and so is Icahn -- buying Apple, that is, and in a big way.Investor Carl Icahn announced via a tweet on Tuesday that he had bought another $500 million worth of Apple stock, raising his overall ownership in the company to about $4.1 billion. Icahn's disclosure comes on the same day that traders dumped Apple shares following the company's disappointing quarterly financial results. Related storiesCarl Icahn selling off Yahoo sharesIcahn increases Motorola stakeIcahn pal Chapple to leave Yahoo's boardThis is the latest page in the involvement of the activist investor with Apple. Icahn, chairman of Icahn Enterprises, has been waging a public campaign to convince the company to buy back more stock, which presumably would lead to an increased share price. "My buying seems to be going neck-and-neck with Apple's buyback program, but hope they win that race," Icahn tweeted.During the company's conference call with analysts, CEO Tim Cook obliquely referred to the calls for the board to buy back more shares. "We've been buying back (shares) all year," he said, adding that has bought roughly $28 billion in stock of the $60 billion authorized to date. The company also announced a cash dividend of $3.05 a share which will get paid to shareholders of record on February 13.
