Scott Forstall, Apple’s chief in iOS recently sold around 65,151 shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock, or around 95% of his stake in the company, so that total sales of the shares reached $38.7 million.
Scott, who is the a senior Vice President for iOS software at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) made the sales last Friday, and documents that had been filed at the US Securities and Exchange Commission corroborate this. The shares that were sold were a part of retention bonus that was granted to the Apple head in 2008. The shares were sold at around $ 601 and $605 a piece, and although this was not the record share price, it seems that the chief of iOS wanted to make a killing with the move.
However, even after this move, Scott still owns at least 2,998 shares in the giant company. At the close of business on Friday, the shares were worth around $1.8 million. Apple’s management were however, quick to add that Scott would not be leaving the company because he made this move.
Scott is also supposed to rake in another windfall due to 100,000 restricted stock units that were granted to him in 2010, but will vest in 2014, and he also has another 150,000 restricted stock units that will vest in 2013, and 2016, as long as he stays with the company till then.
Analysts keen on the move that Scott made are also of the opinion that Scott may stay put because if shares for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reach $1,000 a piece, then the restricted stock units that he holds may be valued as much as a quarter of a million dollars. Furthermore, Scott earns over $700,000 annually in salaries, and is the reason he may not be leaving any time soon.
However, Apple also has a reason to hold on to Scott because he runs the software division that was credited with making $29 billion of the $39 billion that was made between the iPhone and iPad in the last quarter sales.
Forstall, who many people tend to liken to Jobs, was at one time in the beginning of the year profiled as the CEO in waiting for Apple. This is because it is said that the Apple head, in many ways, tends to resemble Steve Jobs in the way that he runs things, and even operates. For instance, it is claimed that Forstall is usually quite good at knowing what he wants, and usually stops at nothing to get it. There are also people who say that he is quite difficult to work with, and he may be the sole reason why a number of high flying executives may have left Apple.
The sale of Forstall’s stock began when the restricted 120,000 stocks that he got in 2008 became fully vested. He cleared 55,849 shares for taxes, and then sold around 65,151 shares. However, at the same time, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, Phil Schiller the marketing head, and Peter Oppenheimer, the CFO sold hundreds of thousands of shares that got them a total of around $150 million after taxes.
