iOS Chief Scott Forstall Sells 95% Of His Apple Stock, Cashing In $38.7 Million

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Forstall
With $38.7 million in the bank, it's no wonder he's smiling.
Photo: Apple

Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior Vice President of iOS Software, has sold 65,151 shares of his Apple stock — the equivalent of 95% of his stake in the company — for a staggering $38.7 million. He now owns just 2,988 Apple shares, worth around $1.8 million, but if he sticks around, there’s plenty more where they came from.

Forstall’s sale was revealed by documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange commission last Friday. According to Fortune, the shares were the remains of a retention bonus of 120,000 shares that was paid to Forstall back in 2008.

Although Forstall now owns just under 3,000 Apple shares, he’s due to receive a whole lot more over the next four years, should he stay with the company. In 2010, he was granted 100,000 restricted stock units that vest in 2014, and just last year, he was granted another 150,000 restricted stock units that will vest in equal parts in 2013 and 2016.

If Apple’s stock reaches $1,000 per share within the next year, as some analysts have forecast, those shares could be worth a whopping quarter of a billion dollars.

On top of those RSUs, Forstall receives an annual salary of $700,000 for running Apple’s iOS software division.

Why is he paid so much? Well, Apple’s iPhone and iPad, which both run the iOS operating system, made up $29 billion of the company’s $39 billion in sales last quarter. iOS is widely considered to be the best mobile operating system available. It’s no wonder Apple wants Forstall to stick around.

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