When Tim Cook became CEO of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) in 2011, one of his biggest strategic shifts was returning capital to shareholders. He reinstated the company’s dividend in 2012 and, more importantly, launched a massive stock buyback program.
Apple has spent more than any other company on stock buybacks over the last 10 years, according to research by The Motley Fool. Here’s a closer look at how much it has spent and why this benefits shareholders.
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Apple’s stock buybacks during Tim Cook’s tenure
Cook has been part of multiple record-breaking share buybacks while CEO of Apple. Near the beginning of his tenure, the board authorized a $10 billion buyback for its fiscal 2013, but later raised that to $60 billion, the largest single share-repurchase authorization in history. It authorized repurchases of $100 billion in 2018 and $110 billion in 2024, with the latter still being its largest-ever buyback. In 2025 and 2026, it authorized $100 billion in buybacks.
A buyback authorization only means a company can spend up to that amount, not that it will. Apple normally uses most of it, though, and has bought back a whopping $877 billion in shares under Cook’s leadership.
A (mostly) positive move for Apple shareholders
After Apple buys back shares, it retires them. With fewer shares in circulation, every shareholder owns a larger slice of the company. Over a quarter or even a year, this is a relatively minor change. At Apple’s market cap of $4.6 trillion (as of Aug. 19), a $100 billion repurchase authorization means buying back a little over 2% of the company.
But for a long-term investor, it makes a significant difference. Case in point, when Cook took over, Apple had about 26…
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