Apple reaches $490 million settlement over allegations that CEO Tim Cook defrauded shareholders

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple has reached a $490 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit that alleged CEO Tim Cook in 2018 defrauded shareholders by concealing falling demand for iPhones in China. The settlement requires a judge’s approval.

Reuters:

The lawsuit stemmed from Cook’s comment on a Nov. 1, 2018, analyst call that although Apple faced sales pressure in markets such as Brazil, India, Russia, and Turkey, where currencies had weakened, “I would not put China in that category.”

On Jan. 2, 2019, Apple unexpectedly cut its quarterly revenue forecast by up to $9 billion, blaming U.S.-China trade tensions. Its shares fell 10% the next day, wiping out about $74 billion of market value.

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MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in November 2020, “Both Cook and Luca could have thought, at the time of their statements, that China iPhone sales would continue and they might not have been able to foresee, even though it seems painfully obvious in hindsight, that a late rush of battery replacements would ensue in December just before the low-priced iPhone battery replacement program’s end date, negatively impacting sales of new iPhones.”

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