Carl Icahn Buys More Apple Shares After Saying He Would Be Better Off If Apple Didn't Take His Advice

Activist investor Carl Icahn in a CNBC interview last week said that in some ways he would be better off if Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) chose not to take his advice and increase its stock buyback.

"As far as I'm concerned,” Icahn said, “I'm actually better off with them doing nothing. I intend to buy (more) stock."

Which he did. Icahn tweeted last Wednesday that he had bought another $500 million worth of Apple shares, bringing his total investment to more than $3 billion.

Then Tuesday, following news that Apple shares sank on disappointing sales, Icahn tweeted this:

Just bought $500 mln more $AAPL shares. My buying seems to be going neck-and-neck with Apple's buyback program, but hope they win that race.

— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 28, 2014

The Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ: IEP) chair has repeatedly urged Apple to return more profits to shareholders. So far, the board has resisted following Icahn’s advice.

As a result, the attacks have continued, including this tweet Jan. 22:

We feel $APPL board is doing great disservice to shareholders by not having markedly increased its buyback. In-depth letter to follow soon.

— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 22, 2014

Icahn has repeatedly said he had no quarrel with Apple’s management team. In the CNBC interview, he said his intent to purchase additional Apple shares was "one of the greatest no-brainers of all time."

Related: Apple Makes Supply Chain Adjustment to Increase Margins

Icahn added, "The point is that you don't have to be genius in technology to understand that Apple is selling at a 2014 consensus of 9 times earnings, and amazingly the S&P is selling at 17 times earnings and Apple is really growing."

Although Icahn probably holds less than one percent of Apple’s outstanding shares, the billionaire investor has done well. Apple’s stock was up 17 percent since Icahn first announced a significant stake August 13.

Currently Apple is in the middle a $60 billion share repurchase and said it had already returned $43 billion in dividends and repurchases under its capital return program, according to Reuters.

In resisting adding to its buyback program, the company said it needed to hang on to cash to help it compete against both Samsung and Amazon in smartphones and other devices.

Meanwhile, Icahn teased CNBC viewers Wednesday saying he planned to reveal another major stake in a new company – sometime over the next few weeks. Icahn said the “reveal” would likely be via Twitter.

At the time of this writing, Jim Probasco had no position in any mentioned securities.