Who owns Apple? The question of who owns the world’s most valuable company hides a complex answer that tells another story: the evolution of modern technological capitalism.
Apple is fragmented into more than 15 billion shares held by millions of investors. But three passive management firms control one-fifth of the company—a significant concentration of power.
These big three aren’t Carl Icahn-style activist capitalists. They’re passive managers who track stock indexes.
In numbers. The three passive management giants that dominate Apple:
- Vanguard Group: 8.91% ($334 billion)
- BlackRock: 7.23% ($271 billion)
- State Street: 3.86% ($144 billion)
Together, they control 20% of Apple’s stock.
The paradox. These new “owners” aren’t trying to control Apple. They’re passive managers who automatically track stock indexes. The more Apple grows, the more shares they have to buy. It’s a self-reinforcing cycle.
Apple’s internal power lies with its insiders:
- Arthur Levinson (chairman): 4.21 million shares
- Tim Cook (CEO): 3.28 million shares
- Jeff Williams (COO): 490,000 shares
- Katherine Adams (general counsel): 179,000 shares
These insiders hold only 2.06% of Apple’s shares.
Recent movements. The buying and selling movements of these insiders are public:
- Cook and Levinson sold shares between October and November this year.
- Adams gave away shares in November.
- Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett halved his stake a few months ago, generating a tax bill of $15 billion—more than the annual revenue of Nintendo or Spotify.
These stock sales aren’t necessarily a red flag. Many executives receive stock as compensation and sell it for diversification. It’s more striking when the sales are nearly synchronized and in large volumes.
In perspective. This reflects how the ownership model of big tech companies has changed as they’ve grown in importance and market capitalization.
They’re less and less owned by a visionary tycoon and more and more by algorithms that replicate indexes, with no interest in making decisions about the company’s future. They prioritize stability over disruption—something that contextualizes Apple today.
- This means less pressure on Apple to make drastic changes and more autonomy for management…
- ...but also a possible inertia of algorithms reinforcing market trends.
Formal and real power—ownership versus management—are quite separate in Apple’s case, which means greater autonomy for the company.
Image | Apple
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