Activist Investor Carl Icahn Asks Apple To Speed Up Share Repurchase Program

Apple CEO Tim Cook received another letter from activist investor Carl Icahn today, which marks the second time the shareholder has lobbied Apple to step up its repurchase program. The letter details the request at length, commending Apple on its recent iPhone 6 launch and Cook on his leadership, but asks Apple to “meaningfully accelerate and increase the magnitude of share repurchases,” in light of “the persistently excessive liquidity of $133 billion net cash on Apple’s balance sheet.” Apple has already made a response to Icahn’s letter, which it provided to CNBC and which aired during a live broadcast : We always appreciate hearing from our shareholders. Since 2013, we’ve been aggressively executing the largest capital return program in corporate history. As we’ve said before, we will review the program annually and take into account the input from all of our shareholders.