Apple Raising $17 Billion Through Bond Issuance

Apple shareholders have been putting pressure on the company to increase shareholder value by paying dividends or by increasing the value of the stock via buybacks.  Apple has $144 billion in retained earnings but $100 billion is held overseas.  Apple would have to pay a corporate tax on the profits held overseas if it were to use that money to reward shareholders.  Consequently, it is issuing $17 billion in bonds to reward its shareholders.  This enables them to take advantage of low interest rates.  They get the added advantage of deducting the interest from their US taxes, while also avoiding taxes on profits repatriated to the US.