Mr. Davis cited insider transaction data from Thomson Financial that showed Mr. Tevanian buying 300,000 Apple shares on Nov. 1 at $8.41 each. The executive sold the stock that same day, with each share going for somewhere between $57.14 and $57.74 each.
Mr. Tevanian then acquired 300,000 more shares on Dec. 1, picking them up for between $8.41 and $8.66 each and getting $68.89 to $69.77 apiece when sold that day. Both of the option exercises and sales were part of a plan he set up last January under Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Such plans help avoid conflict of interest claims.
Ronald Johnson, senior vice-president of retail at Apple, has also exercised options during that time frame, selling $4.7 million worth of shares for $13.2 million on Nov. 22. Apple employees have sold shares worth over $322 million so far in 2005, according to Mr. Davis, although CEO Steve Jobs is not among them.
The Mac Observer found the link to this article at MacNN.