Carl Icahn should leave Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) alone according to Pimco founder Bill Gross. The investor says that Icahn should use his time to help people, like Bill Gates does. Carl Icahn is in the top fifty of the world’s wealthiest people. He’s worth somewhere in the region of $21 billion. At the moment he is trying to convince Apple Inc. (NASDQ:AAPL) to buy back shares in order to return value to shareholders.
Gross: Icahn should leave #Apple alone & spend more time like Bill Gates. If #Icahn’s so smart, use it to help people not yourself.
— PIMCO (@PIMCO) October 24, 2013
Taking to Twitter, which has become Carl Icahn’s favored form of communication and disclosure in recent months, Gross said that Icahn should use his money to help other people rather than just himself. Icahn hasn’t responded to the taunt just yet, but his Twitter notoriety suggests that he might at some point during the day.
Icahn and Apple
Carl Icahn turned his gentle coaxing of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) into a low-energy activist campaign earlier today. Icahn penned an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook requesting that the executive set a $150 billion share buyback in motion at the world’s most valuable company.
Whether or not Icahn will be successful remains to be seen, but it’s clear that his strategy is not being favored by some. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is not poorly managed by the standards of any activist, but Icahn thinks that there’s money to be made by changing things in Cupertino.
Icahn is doing what he thinks is best for his investors. With the weight of a company on his shoulders, that’s what he’s supposed to do. Bill Gross seems to be implying that $20 billion means that it’s time to begin working for other people. There are probably a few people who would peg that figure quite a bit lower.
Icahn Twitter feud
It’s possible that this slight from Bill Gross will result in a Twitter war between him and Carl Icahn. The investor has only been on the social networking site since last June, and he hasn’t had the pleasure of a feud just yet.
Icahn isn’t foreign to the idea outside of Twitter, however. His battle with Bill Ackman over Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) got a little personal some months back. He and Bill Gross could be headed in a similar direction over Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).