In the biggest corporate offering ever, Apple sold $17 billion of bonds to finance its pledge to return $100 billion to shareholders with dividends and buybacks by the end of 2015. While Apple has $145 billion of cash, borrowing the money may help it avoid repatriation taxes on the $102.3 billion it holds overseas. Apple's shares have fallen 44 percent in seven months, and the company expects smaller gross margins and sales this quarter as it faces increased competition. Apple paid higher interest rates than Microsoft did a week earlier, as the iPhone maker's slowing growth overshadowed its large cash flow. Apple's last offering was in 1996.
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