Apple is being sued for allegedly creating a monopoly. Learn more about who owns the company

Mariyam Muhammad, Cincinnati Enquirer
·3 min read

The US Justice Department along with 16 states on Thursday filed an 88-page antitrust lawsuit against Apple for violating antitrust laws

Apple allegedly violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by employing "a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives."

So who owns Apple and could potentially take a financial hit if the lawsuit makes it way to the courts?

Who owns Apple?

This lawsuit can affect many individuals and companies, as Apple doesn’t have just one owner. Apple’s ownership structure carries a mix of people, including institutional, retail and individual investors. Insider investors, including Chair of the Board Art Levinson and CEO of Apple Tim Cook, control less than 1% of the company.

This long anticipated lawsuit has been in the making after years of allegations, stemming from Apple’s intention to keep customers reliant on their iPhones rather than switching to a competing device.

Apple in hot water: What the DOJ lawsuit against Apple could mean for consumers

Why did Apple receive this lawsuit?

Apple has a long history of making it difficult for third-party users on its devices, despite campaigns on improving this matter. Apple prides on making their technology easy to use, but this is achieved by restricting interactions from third-party companies with Apple’s products and services.

Critics say that Apple has harmed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach — a closed platform or ecosystem wherein the provider of the platform has total control over the content, applications, and media, restricting access as it sees fit with the end goal of creating a monopoly.

Attorney General Merrick Garland made several references against Apple’s alleged monopoly over the phone market during Thursday's press conference. This included a 2022 event at which Cook was confronted about Android-to-iPhone messaging compatibility. Cook responded with the recommendation to "buy your mom an iPhone" to resolve the issue.

In addition, Apple also gives its own products the ability to access certain parts of its hardware that it restricts other companies from using. For example, Apple’s AirTags, a small disc that can be tracked via your iPhone or iPad, does not allow competitors’ products to connect to this device, further limiting third-party capabilities.

What other accusations against Apple did the Justice Department make in its lawsuit?

Furthermore, Apple had been allegedly accused of the following:

  • Boxed out its smaller competitors by blocking the expansion of so-called "super apps" that provide identical services across devices, bringing in nearly $400 billion in revenue last year

  • Monopolized the use of tap-to-pay functions on iPhones to only the Apple Wallet

  • Disrupted messaging formats and capabilities between Apple and non-Apple devices, including lower media quality, diminished editing capabilities and different colors for the messages themselves

  • Worked to stifle the use of non-Apple smartwatches by limiting how users interacted with them on the iPhone and used cloud streaming, location services and web browsers on iPhones to snuff out smaller rivals

Have other companies allegedly violated the Sherman Antitrust Act?

Apple is not the first company to face this lawsuit — Google also went on a historic trial for antitrust cases over the last few years, stemming from alleged monopolistic business practices.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who owns Apple and who will be affected by the antitrust lawsuit?