Apple Exec Sells off $38.7M of Shares

We all need a little cash in these tough times, but Apple exec Scott Forstall apparently needs a lot -- cashing out more than 64,000 shares of Apple stock to make $38.7 million.

Forstall, Apple's vice president of iOS software currently takes home $700,000 a year, but still has several hundreds of thousands of shares that won't vest until next year, 2014 and 2016 -- to ensure he won't be leaving any time soon, according to Forbes. The shares sold were what was left of Forstall's 120,000-share retention bonus given in 2008. According to security filings, Forstall still owns almost 3,000 shares, but sold off 95 percent of his holdings.

(Forstall isn't the only one taking advantage of Apple's higher stock price, Millard Drexler, an Apple board member just sold off 40,000 shares for around $24 million.)

What's most interesting is that Forstall is considered by many to be Tim Cook's successor and called blatantly ambitious by author Adam Lashinsky, who wrote "Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired -- and Secretive -- Company Really Works." Forstall supposedly is cultivating colleagues and support within the company to make a power play to become CEO.

But if Forstall is selling off -- perhaps he's no longer willing to wait in the wings and may pursue other opportunities. Or maybe the price of Apple shares was just too high not to cash out. Either way, we predict there will be more news from Forstall in the next year.