{"id":728536,"date":"2010-05-18T08:34:27","date_gmt":"2010-05-18T12:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/how-steve-jobs-blew-103-billion-on-the-dumbest-trade-ever-2010-5"},"modified":"2010-05-18T08:34:27","modified_gmt":"2010-05-18T12:34:27","slug":"how-steve-jobs-blew-10-3-billion-on-the-dumbest-trade-ever-aapl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/728536","title":{"rendered":"How Steve Jobs Blew $10.3 Billion On “The Dumbest Trade Ever” (AAPL)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Apple CEO Steve Jobs<\/a> owns about $2.5 billion worth of Apple stock. But he would own about $13 billion worth of Apple stock if it weren’t for a huge mistake he made back in 2003, MarketWatch’s Brett Arends reports.<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2003, Apple<\/a> (AAPL) stock had declined from a peak $36 per share during the tech boom to about $7.<\/p>\n

This put options granted to employees near the peak deeply underwater.<\/p>\n

So, to keep these employees motivated, Apple’s board gave Steve Jobs and every other Apple employee the opportunity to exchange the underwater options for new, fewer options at a much lower strike price.<\/p>\n

Steve took the leap and canceled all his options for a much smaller number of them at a lower price.<\/p>\n

With Apple stock now trading above $250 – well above the strike price of all those options Steve gave up – Steve, with one pen stroke, lost himself about $10.3 billion in future gains.<\/p>\n

Brett calls it, “the dumbest trade ever.”<\/p>\n

Don’t miss: How Steve Jobs Got Sick, Got Better, And Decided To Save Some Lives<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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