Carl Ichan sets sights on Apple, talks to CEO Tim Cook

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Activist investor Carl Icahn thinks Apple should be doing more to revive its stock price, and wants to help CEO Tim Cook with the resuscitation.

Icahn, an outspoken billionaire renowned for pouncing on out-of-favor stocks, signaled he has Apple Inc. in his sights in two short messages posted today on his Twitter account. Until now, he had been deploying Twitter as a weapon in his attack on Dell Inc.'s proposed sale to a group led by its CEO, Michael Dell.

The Twitter posts announced that Icahn had acquired a large but unspecified stake in Apple and that he had just had a "nice conversation" with Cook about his belief that the maker of the iPhone and iPad should be using even more of its $147 billion in cash to buy back its own stock as soon as possible.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling described Icahn's discussion with Cook as positive, but declined to elaborate. "We appreciate the interest and investment of all our shareholders," Dowling said.

Icahn, 77, probably has already won some fans among Apple shareholders. After he tweeted, Apple's market value rose by about $13 billion.