Tim CookSource: Apple

What you need to know

  • Apple has been told it will face a lawsuit brought by investors.
  • They say Apple CEO Tim Cook misled them in 2018.
  • The lawsuit relates to the way Cook spoke about China.

Apple and CEO Tim Cook have been told that they will face a lawsuit from investors who say that he misled them with the result being a multi-billion dollar loss.

The lawsuit goes all the way back to the end of 2018 when Cook was speaking about China. As Reuters reports, the plaintiff is a UK-based pension fund.

Apple Inc has been ordered to face a proposed class-action lawsuit by shareholders who accused Chief Executive Tim Cook of concealing falling demand for iPhones in China, resulting in billions of dollars of investor losses.

In a decision on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said shareholders led by a UK pension fund can sue over Cook's comment on a Nov. 1, 2018, analyst call that while Apple was facing sales pressure in some emerging markets, "I would not put China in that category."

Apple told suppliers to curb production a few days after Cook spoke, and on Jan. 2, 2019, unexpectedly cut its quarterly revenue forecast by up to $9 billion, which Cook blamed in part on pressure on China's economy from U.S.-China trade tensions.

Apple is yet to respond to the situation but it's unlikely to take the lawsuit lightly. If there's one thing that will always get a company and its CEO hot under the collar it's the prospect of misleading investors.