Apple Inc. (AAPL) is the world’s second-largest company by market value. It designs, manufactures, and sells a wide range of consumer technology devices including smartphones, tablets, personal computers, and wearables. Some of its best-known products include the flagship iPhone brand, the iPad, and Mac lines.
Apple has expanded its service revenue by dramatically growing its cloud services business and by selling streaming entertainment like Apple TV+, Apple Music, and other digital content.
The top shareholders of Apple are Arthur Levinson, Tim Cook, Jeff Williams, The Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc. (BLK), and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A).
Apple’s 12-month trailing revenue and net income are $383 billion and $97 billion, respectively. The company’s market cap is about $2.65 trillion as of March 13, 2024.
Here’s a more detailed look at Apple’s six biggest shareholders.
Key Takeaways
- Apple Inc. is the world’s second-largest company by market value.
- The company’s market cap was about $2.64 trillion as of March 2024.
- The Vanguard Group was Apple’s top shareholder as of January 2024 with more than 1.27 billion shares representing 8.27% of total shares.
- Arthur Levinson was Apple’s top individual insider shareholder as of January 2024 with more than 4.5 million shares.
Top 3 Individual Insider Shareholders
Arthur Levinson
Arthur Levinson owned 4,590,576 shares of Apple stock as of Jan. 2, 2024. Levinson has been the chair of the board of Apple since 2011 and a co-lead director since 2005, having originally joined in 2000. Levinson has served on all three board committees in his role as director: audit and finance, nominating and corporate governance, and compensation.
Levinson is a former chair of biotech company Genentech Inc. and is the founder and CEO of biotech company Calico.
“Insider” refers to individuals in senior management positions and members of the board of directors, as well as people or entities that own more than 10% of the company’s stock. The term has nothing to do with insider trading in this context.
Tim Cook
Tim Cook owned 3,280,053 shares of Apple stock as of Jan. 2, 2024. Cook rose to CEO of Apple in 2011 after the death of founder and longtime CEO Steve Jobs. Cook arrived at Apple in 1998 and was the chief operating officer, responsible for all worldwide sales and operations before being named CEO.
Cook also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships. Cook was Vice President for Corporate Materials for Compaq and Director of North American fulfillment for IBM before joining Apple.
Jeff Williams
Jeff Williams, the Chief Operating Officer at Apple, owned 489,817 shares of Apple stock as of Jan. 2, 2024. Mr. Williams oversees Apple’s global operations and the development of Apple Watch and Apple’s health initiatives. Mr. Williams held previous positions after joining Apple in 1998 that included Head of Worldwide Procurement. Mr. Williams worked in several roles at IBM from 1985 to 1998 before joining Apple.
Apple briefly became the world’s first $3 trillion company during intraday trading on Jan. 3, 2022. The iPhone maker also holds the distinction of being the world’s first company to reach $1 trillion and $2 trillion.
Top 3 Institutional Shareholders
The top three institutional investors owned 20.85% of the common stock outstanding for Apple as of Jan. 2, 2024.
Vanguard Group Inc.
Vanguard Group owned more than 1.27 billion shares of Apple, representing 8.27% of total shares outstanding as of Jan. 2, 2024. Vanguard is primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company with about $7.6 trillion in global assets under management (AUM).
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) is one of the company’s largest exchange traded funds (ETFs) with about $1.0 trillion in net assets as of Jan. 31, 2024.
BlackRock Inc.
BlackRock owned 1.029 billion shares of Apple, representing 6.66% of total shares outstanding as of Jan. 2, 2024. BlackRock is also a mutual fund and ETF management company with approximately $9.09 trillion in AUM as of March 31, 2023.
The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is among one of BlackRock’s largest ETFs with more than $456 billion in net assets as of March 12, 2024.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Berkshire Hathaway owned more than 915 million shares of Apple, representing 5.92% of total shares outstanding, as of Jan. 2, 2024. Led by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway is a diversified holding company with investments in a broad range of industries including insurance, railroads, gas and electric utilities, and more.
The company reported almost $36 billion in earnings as of Sept. 30, 2023. It also holds a sizable portfolio of equity securities valued at hundreds of billions of dollars.
What Are Some of Arthur Levinson’s Other Achievements?
Levinson is the author or co-author of 80-plus scientific articles. He holds 11 U.S. patents and was inducted into the BioTech Hall of Fame in 2003.
What Is Apple’s Stock Price in 2024?
Apple Inc. shares opened at $173.23 on March 13, 2024. Its intraday market cap was $265.1 trillion on the same date.
What Are Some Other Services and Products Offered by Vanguard?
The Vanguard Group offers the Situational Advisor service that provides clients with a one-time consultation with a financial advisor. The topic doesn’t have to be stock-related. It can be the pros and cons of buying a home, a question about your retirement, or just about any other financial issue. The advisor can’t manage your money for you but can provide you with knowledgeable guidance.
The Bottom Line
Apple reported revenue of $119.6 billion in the fiscal quarter ending on Dec. 30, 2023. This was up 2% from the previous year. Tim Cook said at the time of the announcement that Apple’s installed basis of active devices had topped 2.2 billion and this was before the launch of the Apple Vision Pro in 2024.
Apple should continue to be a thriving enterprise in 2024.