Friday Apple Rumors: Apple, Google Settle Massive Anti-Poaching Lawsuit

by Christopher Freeburn | April 25, 2014 12:08 pm

Here are your Apple rumors[1] and AAPL news items for today:

[2]Ended: A closely-watched lawsuit against four of the largest technology companies in Silicon valley, including Apple (AAPL[3]), won’t be going to trial[4], Reuters notes. Apple, Google (GOOG[5]), Adobe (ADBE[6]) and Intel (INTC[7]) have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit filed by technology workers who accused the companies of colluding to prevent the poaching of each others’ employees. The plaintiffs argued that the alleged conspiracy among the tech giants reduced competitive pressure on compensation packages — which would otherwise have been boosted to increase retention — and thus kept salaries for tech workers lower. The lawsuit was filed in 2011 and covered up to 64,000 technology workers. The plaintiffs were demanding damages of up to $3 billion, but any award could have been tripled to $9 billion under antitrust law provisions. Sources told Reuters that the tech companies will pay a total of $324 million to settle the suit. The settlement comes about a month before the case would have gone to court in late May. Terms of the settlement — which must be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh — will be revealed on May 27. Emails obtained by the plaintiffs appeared to show top Google and Apple executives cooperating to prevent recruiters from luring away each others’ top talent. The tech companies named in the suit denied that they had colluded to keep tech worker wages low. In 2010, the four companies named in the lawsuit settled with the U.S. Department of Justice, promising not to make no-hire agreements covering tech workers amongst themselves.

Donation: An hour of Tim Cook’s time is up for bid at CharityBuzz[8], MacRumors notes. The charity auction website bills the event as a “unique opportunity to have lunch with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple headquarters.” CharityBuzz estimates the value[9] of the lunch meeting at $100,000. By Friday morning, bidding had already exceeded $62,000. Proceeds of the auction will benefit the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. The auction’s winner can bring one other person to lunch with Cook at Apple’s headquarters. The cost of traveling to Cupertino, Calif., will have to be paid for by the winner, but the lunch is included in the auction price. The auction ends on May 13. Last year, Cook participated in a similar auction, benefiting the same organization. That auction ultimately raised $610,000.

Again: Apple plans to sell more corporate bonds[10], the Wall Street Journal notes. During a conference call discussing Apple’s second-quarter results, vice president and corporate controller Luca Maestri, said that Apple would hold a bond sale “similar” to last year’s $17 billion sale. Apple hasn’t revealed specifics about the new sale just yet, but Maestri noted that the bonds would be sold in “markets, currencies and tenures to be determined over the course of the year, and subject to prevailing conditions in each market.” Apple’s bonds are rated rated double-A-plus, just below the top triple-A rating. Last year, Apple sold 10-year debt, maturing in 2023.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[11] stories.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2014/04/friday-apple-rumors-apple-google-settle-massive-anti-poaching-lawsuit/

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