Apple unveils $45bn share buyback and dividend plan

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has fulfilled a longstanding desire of investors by initiating a quarterly dividend and share buyback that will pay out $45bn (€34.2bn) over three years.

The world’s most valuable technology company will start paying its first dividends since 1995 — a regular quarterly payout of $2.65 a share — in July, and buy back up to $10bn of its stock beginning in the next fiscal year.

The $10bn annual dividend programme, which Mr Cook said will be reviewed periodically, ranks among the largest current US corporate cash payouts.