Apple's market value soars by $12bn as billionaire investor buys major stake in company

Software giant Apple's stocks soared and the market value rose by 12 billion dollars following the announcement of a US billionaire investor buying major stakes in the company.

Investor Carl Icahn tweeted that his firm had taken a 'large position' in Apple as he believed the company was extremely undervalued, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Icahn wants Apple to increase its stock buyback of 150 billion dollars by borrowing funds at 3 percent so that the company can once again reach its peak 702 dollars-a-share value.

As soon as Icahn tweeted, the market responded in a boost to Apple's shares as they jumped more than 5 percent to 494.66 dollars, the highest since January as earlier they had fallen 30 percent since hitting a peak record of 702 dollars last year.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said that CEO Tim Cook had a positive conversation with Icahn and the company appreciated the interest and investment of its shareholders.

Carl Icahn's stake is worth well over 1billion dollars, making it one of his biggest shareholdings.