At 2:21 p.m. and at 2:25 p.m., on August 13, 2013, Carl Icahn issued the following tweets:
Shortly after sending that tweet, Apple shares jumped on the news closing 4.8% higher for the day, increasing Apple’s market cap by almost $17.1 billion.
Mr. Icahn’s tweets have been viewed as shareholder activism. Not many individuals have the power to move markets in the same way that Mr. Icahn was able to do with Apple. Could these types of actions really be viewed as market manipulation rather than shareholder activism? Should the Securities and Exchange Commission put rules and restrictions on such communications for these type of high profile individuals? Fodder for an interesting debate.
