Apple execs sold $143 million of stock prior to the iPhone 6 release

According to a Barrons report, Apple execs including Tim Cook sold off a total of $143 million of stock in the days leading up to the iPhone 6 announcement. The dump netted $35 million apiece for Cook, VP Marketing Phil Schiller, VP Operations Jeffrey Williams, and General Counsel Bruce Sewell, while Apple’s poor CFO, Luca Maestri, onlnly wound up with $1.6 million.

Do not adjust your sets: Despite finishing Friday at $645, Apple stock will open today at around $92. This is the result of a 7-to-1 stock split, which will see the price of the stock divided by seven and shareholders of record awarded six additional shares on top of their existing holdings. Apple announced the split earlier this year in what we referred to at the time as an “earth-shattering earnings call.” Apple’s stock has split on three previous occasions, with 2-for-1 splits taking place in 1987, 2000 and 2005. While Apple claims its aim is to make the stock “more accessible” to a wider range of customers, it’s also possible that Apple is shooting for inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, which is price-weighted.