Apple execs sell $75M in shares, settle with tax man

With the exception of Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and newly appointed General Counsel Daniel Cooperman, each member of Apple's executive team was forced this week to address restricted stock units that had recently vested and were set to expire, regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show.

Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering  Bertrand Serlet, and Senior Vice President of Applications Sina Tamaddon each converted 250,000 restricted stock units to shares.

In order to meet their tax obligations on those shares, each exec decided to net-share settle, or surrender, 113,659 shares at $139.53 a piece to cover those costs. They each retained the remaining 136,341 shares.

Apple's Senior Vice President iPod Division Tony Fadell made a similar move on 100,000 restricted share units, converting them to stock, then disposing of 45,750 at $139.53 to pay his taxes. He retained the remaining 54,250 shares.

Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer and Senior Vice President Industrial Design Jonathan Ive saw 250,000 and 200,000 restricted stock units vest, respectively, which they then converted to shares. Both execs used a portion of those shares to pay the tax man, but then sold the remaining shares in keeping with prearranged stock-trading plans.

Oppenheimer disposed of 136,341 shares on the open market at prices between $138.74 and $139.79 for a net gain of approximately $19 million, while Ive sold 109,216 shares at prices between $138 and $140 for a profit of $15.2 million.

Finally, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook converted 300,000 vested stock units to shares and then sold all of them on the open market in following a prearranged stock-trading plan, at prices between $133.79 and $140.76 per share.

Cook's net profit totaled nearly $41 million before taxes.