
Alisher Usmanov, a billionaire and also the richest man in Russia, recently bought $100 million in Apple stock. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Usmanov is worth £13.3 billion converted to $19.95 billion- making him United Kingdom’s richest man and the 34th richest man in the world according to Forbes Magazine.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Usmanov sees the recent decline in Apple’s share price a strong investment opportunity. Apple shares are down almost 40% compared to September of last year, before iPhones 5’s launch. He publicly declared his faith in Apple, the company’s future, and sees a "very promising investment.”
Usmanov was known to make some risky decisions in the past, by making a bet on Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. But his Digital Sky Technologies (DST) ended up pocketing $1.3 billion on the investment. His plan with Apple is a repurchase program that will amount to $60 billion and a quarterly dividend of $3.05 per share- this is the largest share repurchase authorization in history.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been frustrated with the recent stock price decline but claims:
Apple remains very strong and we will continue to do what we do best. We can't control items such as exchange rates and world economies, and even certain cost pressures, but the most important objective for Apple will always be creating innovative products — and that is directly within our control.
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