Sitting on Cash Pile, Apple May Pay Dividend to Shareholders

If indications are to be believed, Apple shareholders will soon be queuing before their banks with dividend money they would be getting from the company.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, indicated during the annual shareholders' meeting that the board would be nearing a decision to deal with $98 billion cash pile.

"The board and management are thinking about this very deeply. This isn't a case where 100 per cent of people are going to agree with what we do," the Associated Press quoted Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, as saying at the investor's meet on Thursday.

"The board and management team are thinking about this very deeply," Cook added.

But the Cupertino–based tech giant is keeping the guessing game afloat with not committing any decision on the matter.

Speculation of a one-time dividend instead of quarterly dividends or a share buyback or a share split is gaining ground after the company's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.

Apple has not paid dividend since 1995 and investors are looking forward to a share buyback or a dividend announcement from Apple.

It was the grim realities of a cash-strapped company that made the former CEO of Apple Steve Jobs to hold on to every penny it generated with a host of market-conquering products.

Apple was in deep trouble when Jobs took over the leadership of the company and it had to even turn to its rival, Microsoft, for cash infusion to stay afloat.

Apple shares have grown more than 63 per cent since the last annual shareholders' meeting. Industry watchers are of the opinion that any share buyback or dividend announcement will only attract further investor interest in the company.