The investor has filed a "precatory proposal" to Apple, calling for shareholders to vote on the terms of its buyback program. December 4, 2013 1:04 PM PST (Credit: James Martin/CNET) Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has made his latest move in trying to get Apple to increase its buyback program. On Wednesday, he tweeted that he would make a "precatory proposal" to Apple that calls for a shareholder vote on the program. That means that even if the majority of Apple shareholders approve, the company would not be bound to the decision. He notes in the tweet that the request would be for less than the $150 billion he'd previously asked for. According to Time, Icahn gave Apple notice on November 26, three days before the company's deadline for measures to be voted on at the Apple's next shareholder meeting. Apple confirmed to Time that Icahn had filed the precatory proposal, and responded as such: "Earlier this year we more than doubled our capital return program to $100 billion, including the largest share repurchase authorization in history. As part of our regular review process, we are once again actively seeking our shareholders' input on our program, and as we said in October, the management team and our board are engaged in an ongoing discussion about it which is thoughtful and deliberate. We will announce any changes to our current program in the first part of calendar 2014." Apple did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment from CNET. We'll update this post if we hear back. Icahn has been at this for a while. The investor has previously met with Apple CEO Tim Cook over dinner to discuss the program, and in October, he posted an open letter to Cook about the topic on his Web site, Shareholders' Square Table. Related posts Apple updates figure on work week labor compliance iPad Air scores big during Black Friday weekend 2014 Honda Civic hits the lot with built-in Siri Heads up Apple, Android to make big gains in 2014, IDC predicts Facebook cutting fluff out of news feeds

Posted by : Unknown Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The investor has filed a "precatory proposal" to Apple, calling for shareholders to vote on the terms of its buyback program.

December 4, 2013 1:04 PM PST

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has made his latest move in trying to get Apple to increase its buyback program.

On Wednesday, he tweeted that he would make a "precatory proposal" to Apple that calls for a shareholder vote on the program. That means that even if the majority of Apple shareholders approve, the company would not be bound to the decision. He notes in the tweet that the request would be for less than the $150 billion he'd previously asked for.

According to Time, Icahn gave Apple notice on November 26, three days before the company's deadline for measures to be voted on at the Apple's next shareholder meeting.

Apple confirmed to Time that Icahn had filed the precatory proposal, and responded as such:

"Earlier this year we more than doubled our capital return program to $100 billion, including the largest share repurchase authorization in history. As part of our regular review process, we are once again actively seeking our shareholders' input on our program, and as we said in October, the management team and our board are engaged in an ongoing discussion about it which is thoughtful and deliberate. We will announce any changes to our current program in the first part of calendar 2014."

Apple did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment from CNET. We'll update this post if we hear back.

Icahn has been at this for a while. The investor has previously met with Apple CEO Tim Cook over dinner to discuss the program, and in October, he posted an open letter to Cook about the topic on his Web site, Shareholders' Square Table.