Apple board urges shareholders to vote against Carl Icahn's $50 billion stock buyback proposal

Earlier this month, activist investor Carl Icahn issued a formal proposal asking Apple to repurchase $50 billion of its stock to hand back to its shareholders. By then, the businessman had already spent months steadily pressuring Tim Cook to increase the company's payout to investors in the 2014 fiscal year. Apple has now responded in kind. In a proxy statement filed with the SEC on Friday, the Apple board has recommended against Icahn's proposal.