Larry Ellison Bought 70,000 Shares Of AAPL Shortly After Resigning From Apple's Board

by , 9:00 AM EST, November 25th, 2002

Larry Ellison resigned from Apple's board of directors in late September, but he exercised options for some 70,000 shares of the company two months later, according to a report from Reuters. The options were earned during Mr. Ellison's 5-year tour as one of Apple's Directors. Larry Ellison's day job is being CEO of Oracle, and he is a close personal friend of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. From the Reuters report:

The options were exercised on Nov. 18 and he acquired 60,000 common shares for $11.50 each and 10,000 shares for $13.99 each, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing said. After the transactions he directly held a total of 70,000 shares, it added.

Mr. Ellison resigned from Apple's board citing time commitment issues that prevented him from attending enough board meetings. Since the public disclosure of corporate shenanigans from companies like Enron, Worldcom, and others, corporate boards have been under much closer scrutiny for performance. Apple's board was named one of the eight worst boards in America by BusinessWeek in a report published shortly after Mr. Ellison announced his resignation.

Apple's stock closed lower on Friday at 16.01, down by 0.34 (-2.08%), on moderate volume. You can find more information on the stock purchase in the Reuters article.

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The Mac Observer Spin:

You can spin this as you will, but for our money, this says that Mr. Ellison has confidence in Apple's direction and future. Stock purchases from a departed director are not particularly common, especially in a down market.