David Einhorn, whose Greenlight Capital hedge fund is suing Apple in hopes of garnering preferred stock, will hold a conference call with the Cupertino, Calif., company's stockholders on Thursday to discuss an upcoming proxy vote.
One day after a federal judge sided in part with Greenlight's case, Einhorn announced on Wednesday that he will address Apple shareholders directly to argue his stance on the issuance of perpetual preferred stock, reports Reuters.
The hedge fund manager is suing Apple over the company's so-called "Prop 2" proposal that would revoke the ability of Apple's board members to issue preferred stock, instead putting that power into the hands of shareholders.
Dubbed "Greenlight Opportunistic Use of Preferreds" or "GO-UPs," the preferred stock would would pay out higher than normal dividends to mete out some of Apple's $137 billion cash hoard.
In the court case, Greenlight argues that Apple's "bundling" of three items, including the issuance of preferred stock, into Prop 2 goes against SEC rules. Apple countered last week, claiming that the SEC reviewed the proxy and found no problems with its contents. As for the GO-UPs, Apple said such shares only enhance Greenlight's financials and "do not serve the public interest."
Even if the lawsuit is successful in blocking a vote on the proposal, Apple is not obligated to issue the preferred stock, which could be Einhorn's impetus in courting shareholders tomorrow. If an injunction is not put in place, the decision to pass the proposal ultimately comes down to a shareholder vote scheduled for Feb. 27.
19 Comments
Einhorn, you are being a little too greedy. Apple likes to be conservative with regards to how they manage their money and handing out extra dividends may not be the best idea. Why can't you exhibit a little patience? What are you trying to do, run Apple without being an employee?
That is sort of the idea. The likes of Einhorn have pulled it off in the past, but usually on distressed companies. If he succeeds against Apple, it would be historic.
I want to wipe that smug little grin off his face. This is one shareholder that thinks the power should reside with the shareholders. These Wall Street types feel entitled and they need a good clean kick to their reality.
I want to wipe that smug little grin off his face. This is one shareholder that thinks the power should reside with the shareholders. These Wall Street types feel entitled and they need a good clean kick to their reality.
I'm not siding with Greenlight but there's nothing wrong with thinking in general that the power should ultimately reside with the shareholders. Afterall shareholders are the owners of the company, not the management. Management is basically hired to manage the company for the shareholders. Now of course a lot of people here would think AAPL is actually Steve Job's company, but he's gone. Tim and other executives really can't claim they 'built the company'.
I want to wipe that smug little grin off his face.
I agree, that grin is annoying. This sort of people are quite greedy, specially given how conservative Apple is with it's money (as someone already pointed out).