# Is apple owned by other companies?



## emceepj (Aug 18, 2002)

my boyfriend is so adamant that apple is owned by motorola and ibm because some "smart kid" at school told him so. I'm telling him apple is independantly owned. and it's frustrating cause i'm pretty sure i'm right. please clear this up for me.

Phil


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Apple was almost owned by IBM at one point but Apple is a rich independent company.
Motorola and IBM are in the PowerPC partnership with Apple where they shared development costs and divvied up production ( G4 to Moto - G3 to IBM ) of the chips Apple and IBM use in their computers.
Apple is "owned" by it's shareholders - many of whom may indeed be "other companies" but then all publicly traded companies are "owned" by others in same manner.
He's wrong you are right


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

Who owns the most stock of Apple?

Cheers,

RtC


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## Daniel911 (Mar 13, 2003)

Who owns Apple Computer (AAPL), anyway?

According to the latest information available to the public, Apple Computer is about 60 percent owned by large, institution-sized investors such as MUTUAL FUNDS, public and private PENSION FUNDS and other large investment companies. This means that about 40 percent of Apple Computer is owned by relatively small investors. Many of these small investors are among Apple's most fiercely loyal customers. As much as the continued loyalty of Mac users would not come easy to someone who acquired the company, the purchase of the shares owned by these fiercely loyal customers would not come cheap.
(From www.macobserver.com) 

DETAILS can be found at : 

yahoo.finance

Dan


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

I can't remember for sure, there is Saudi Prince who was one of the world'd richest men and he owned 5% of Apple stock (back in 1998) and I think he still has it.


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

Greetings, Bjornbro. How is your little girl? I shall dog you throughout ehMacLand until you tell us she is doing well (As a father of a profoundly disabled daughter, I am concerned over the health of all other newborns. Thus, I am not being nosey, just wanting to know that all is well.). Merci, mon ami.


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

Your friend needs a primer on Public Corporations, and how they work. In general, Public Companies are owned by a whole bunch of people and institutions, closer to how we "own" our Governments.

It is possible for some large investors to "own" a Company, although usually in this case what is meant by "own" is really "control".

In every nation with a working Capital Market (Stock Exchanges and relevant anti-fraud legislation) there is a point where you must publicly announce you own a certain amount of stock. Levels of 5 to 15% are typical. Keeping quiet is a great way to go to jail, taking a bunch of people with you. Have a party; I hear the lasagna looks just like cake, if you use your imagination.

So, since no investor has publicly announced this level of investment, we can be sure that no one individual or company controls 5% (US mandatory reporting level) or more of Apple stock, except perhaps Apple itself.

In technical terms, this makes Apple a "widely held" company controlled by no one individual or company but itself.

Many will recall Microsoft's quarter-billion $US investment in Apple almost 6 years ago. Didn't even give them enough to own 5% (actually, less than 1%), let alone sit on the board. Apple has since bought those shares back.

This is because the number of shares authorized to be issued is almost always less than the actual issued shares (and the company can authorize more at any time); the company itself owns them and can issue or buy them back to control it's idea of who should own what.

One possible sceanrio would be to issue more shares than already exist, and selling them to a third party, who would by definition control 51% of the votes at the next meeting.

There are financial and other repercussions for doing any of this stuff, so it's not done for fun. In Apple's case that would instantly value the company at over $US 20 Billion, making everybody's shares less valuable (the market would force each share to be worth less until it came back to the $6~8 Billion level it's at now, or possibly even less; given the change in circumstances).

Kicking your investors in the softies is one way to make future attempts to raise money more than a little expensive.

Where corporations differ from democratic governments, is the concept of votes. In a nation, each individual has one vote, period. In a corporation, you get one vote for each voting share; allowing you to vote as if you were (for example) a million persons in a democracy.

You may also ask for proxy votes; essentially you get others to legally agree to let you vote with their shares as you see fit.

This is often used when some kind of major change is proposed; both loyal (typically, the company itself) and black hat (the guy who wants to sell it all and take the cash for a quick buck) will try to get proxies from other owners. In every case, it all comes down to a vote, and 5 to 95 is no way to win.

Shares differ by class (and classes are defined by the company that issues stock). It is common for companies to issue "non-voting" classes of shares. Generally this carries some carrot, such as being first to recieve dividends (shared profits) or whatever, but is useless if you want to be Dr. Evil.

At some point, people who own a whack of shares generally get some control in the operations of a company by being asked to (or forcing the company to agree to, by various means all tied into the votes you've paid for) sit on the Board of Directors. Even if you own an overwhelming number of shares, there will be other directors on the board to help govern the company in it's own interest, rather than solely the interest of the major shareholder(s).

In Canada, if you somehow get 95% of the shares of a company, the laws allow you to force the other owners to give the remaining 5% to you (similar laws exist elsewhere). If you did that, you would "own" Apple.

Unless you really do want to control the company, it's a bad idea to be in the position to do so. The controlling shareholder is a "special" shareholder under the law, and is both more liable for legal problems and less eligible for tax breaks.

In today's climate, it's actually more likely Apple would take over Motorola, which is doing poorly. Even that is way out there in longshot category, but it is more likely than the other way around.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dr.G.:
*Greetings, Bjornbro. How is your little girl? I shall dog you throughout ehMacLand until you tell us she is doing well...*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't you mean you would "doxie" me throughout ehMacland?  My daughter is just over seven weeks old and nearly double her birthweight! She has really fleshed out, with round cheeks and dimples on her hands. She has discovered her fingers and toes and makes the most delightful cooing sounds as she smiles. She travels very well (I swear, a car ride is like an instant tranquilizer to her) and she can even lay quiet while mom and dad have dinner at a restaurant. Now, if only she could sleep longer than four to five hours in a row at night (I know, it'll come).


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## Heart (Jan 16, 2001)

Maybe I own Apple Computer...









I own 40 shares .... for real ... I am not making anything on them right now though...


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## Nick (Aug 24, 2002)

How much does a share cost?


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nick:
*How much does a share cost?*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was just looking... AAPL is on the Nasdaq so the share price is in US $... they are currently trading at about $14.57. Maybe when I have some cash to spare, I'll pick up 100. Of course it may be a good time to pick them up, before the PowerPC 970 based Macs come out.


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## Heart (Jan 16, 2001)

Apple Stock Graph for the past year:









And for last week:









And for Friday, March 28, 2003


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

Bjornbro, ah yes, the joys of not sleeping through the night. My wife would breast feed my son, and then pass him to me at 2AM. We would walk around the house (I would walk, he was over my shoulder) until he fell back asleep. And I know of the calming effects of a car ride. Have you ever tried the vacuum cleaner or the hair dryer technique? When a child is crying and you have fed/changed her/him, and she/he is still crying, lay them in their crib and bring a vacuum/hair dryer into the room and start it up. For some reason, the loud noice at a constant pitch and volume stops the crying. It works for some and not for other children. Good luck.


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