Norfolk County Council has attained a settlement in the legal battle against Apple, with the tech giant accepting to pay 490 million dollars. The class action lawsuit alleges that the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, cheated on shareholders by hiding the lower demand for iPhones in China between November 2018 and January 2019. As a result, many investors had to face financial trouble.
The initial settlement was filed at the United States District Court in Oakland, and it will proceed after the judge approves it at another hearing.
The suit was filed on behalf of many people, including some of the company’s investors looking to recover their losses. It was headed by the Norfolk County Council, which claimed that Cook’s deception impacted the Norfolk Pension Fund.
Notably, Tim Cook, at that time, stated that the company had no pressure on sales in China but reduced the quarterly revenue forecast amid the bilateral relations between the United States and China. As a result, there was a significant drop reported in the price of the company’s shares.
After giving assurance during the investor’s conference call, Cook warned of a drop of $9 billion in the predicted quarterly revenue three months later, mainly because of decreasing demand for iPhones in China.
As per a BBC report, the Norfolk County Council expressed happiness and pride following this settlement. They stated,
We are mindful that we are stewards of pensions relied upon by thousands of families and individuals.
When and where it’s warranted, we will take decisive action to recover losses when our participants’ investments are harmed by fraud,
The settlement, if approved in a further hearing, will solve the dispute and eradicate the need for a court trial scheduled for late 2024. Even after a huge settlement amount, Apple’s net income will not see a significant change, as this amounts to nothing compared to its worth of $97 billion in fiscal 2023.
