

The day Fred Wilson dumped AAPL - rmah
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/08/the-day-fred-wilson-dumped-aapl/

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MatthewPhillips
I don't like the tone of the article. They include a chart which seems to
indicate "Fred Wilson is an idiot", but if you read Wilson's blog his decision
had nothing to do with him being bearish on Apple's growth potential. It had
nothing to do with iPhone vs. Android. It was because Apple was not being
forward with investors about Jobs. That's a legit reason to pull out of
company, regardless of how things have played out since. The article
acknowledges this to a degree but has an overall tone of "Fred Wilson failed".

~~~
dr_
Fred Wilson is an investor and investors are expected to have at least
somewhat of an understanding of a company's outlook and make investments
accordingly (although Fred invests in private, not public, companies). As
such, it's his job to invest based on fundamentals and deliver solid returns
for his portfolio. Apple not being forward with investors about Jobs turned
out to not be a good reason to dump the stock. Apple has never been very open
about anything - that is the culture of the company and it's no secret (no
pun). Twitter hasn't been very forthcoming with people who develop for it's
platform - having abandoned a chunk of them recently. Not to mention there's
been a lot of shuffling in management. Will Fred dump his holdings in Twitter?

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joshfraser
Why would Fred dump his holding in Twitter? I'm sure Twitter are incredibly
open with Fred about their financials and future plans. Fred's beef was with
being a shareholder and not getting that information.

~~~
dr_
I don't buy it. Fred's a smart man - he knows with a company the size and
scope of Apple releasing certain information will only feed competitors and
fuel speculation. Steve Jobs said he was taking a medical leave of absence
because his health issues are more complex than he thought. That's enough
information. What is Fred looking for, biopsy reports?

~~~
jonknee
The SEC rules are pretty vague, so it's hard to say how much is enough
information. They did ask Apple for more information though, which lends me to
believe that they're more on the "disclosure is better" side. Apple's board of
directors was also not amused by Jobs' policy of not disclosing his medical
issues (Jerry York told the WSJ that he almost resigned after hearing the news
but didn't so as to not contribute to the media drama).

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kmfrk
Context: John Gruber mentioned this in a tongue-in-cheek sidenote in The
Talkshow podcast last night. (~"Take Wilson's Apple analyses with a grain of
salt".)

This guy is just parroting the comment in the echochamber.

I don't really think the story has any merit on its own.

