Fortune ran a couple of pieces showing what happened to Apple’s stock price after investor Carl Icahn’s tweets, with his initial announcement that he had taken a “large position” in AAPL, followed by news that he’d had a “nice conversation” with Apple CEO Tim Cook – and a subsequent tweet yesterday that he’d “pushed hard for a 150 billion buyback” over a “cordial dinner.”
The total effect? A jump in Apple’s valuation totalling around $23B – or approaching a cool $8B per tweet.
Would be nice to know when he’s about to tweet, eh?FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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This just goes to show how the markets can be manipulated for the 1%’s benefit. He made a ton of cash just by tweeting something. He probably made his buddies a bundle also.
Corporate America
This is why the whole Stock Market is a sham. This guy buys a billion in Apple stock, then goes around telling the world how undervalued Apple is and drives the stock up; gets filthy rich.
Icahn’s tweet isn’t worth anything without Apple’s awesomeness. Investors largely know Apple is the shining star of US technology, so when they are reminded by some multibillionaire, their greed compels them to get onboard lest they miss something. It’s not just Icahn’s tweet; it’s his tweet about Apple.
i thought that was illegal?
It would be illegal for manipulate the market, eg. buy stock, tweet about it, wait for the gain and then sell. There’s no suggestion Icahn has done this.