Apple COO sells shares, other execs settle with Uncle Sam

Just days after Apple chief executive Steve Jobs turned in nearly 4.6 million company shares to pay taxes on a total of 10 million that had vested, several other members of the Apple executive team made similar moves on stock owed to them by the company.

Meanwhile, Apple's chief operating officer chose to cash in on his shares rather than net-share settle.

All the shares in question were part of 2.4 million restricted stock units that Apple had previously granted to its company executives. Like Jobs' 10 million shares, these also vested this month.

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer, Senior Vice President Software Engineering, Bertrand Serlet, and Senior Vice President Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip W. Schiller, each forfeited 114,375 of the 250,000 shares owed to them in order to satisfy tax obligations.

Similarly, Senior Vice President iPod Division, Jon Rubinstein, Senior Vice President Applications, Sina Tamaddon, and Senior Vice President Retail, Ron Johnson, were also due to receive 250,000 shares. However, their tax obligations were a bit less burdensome, requiring they only turn in 112,707 of their shares to pay the bills.

Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Nancy R. Heinen, and Chief Software Technology Officer, Avadis "Avie" Tevanian, each saw 200,000 shares vest and exchanged 91,500 to pay the applicable taxes.

The only member of Apple's executive team who did not elect to net-share settle his restricted shares was Chief Operating Officer, Timothy D. Cook — the man behind the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's daily operations.

Instead, Cook choose to sell the 300,000 shares owed to him in a series of transactions on the open market. The sale, which occurred at prices between $59.08 and $60.87 a share, yielded the exec about $18 million.

All transactions took place on March 24, 2006.