Apple could make a huge acquisition. But entrepreneurs have an exit opportunity there, too. Here are some start-ups that may be on Apple’s radar.
Apple has a treasure trove so large it staggers the human imagination: $117 billion in cash. That’s more than three times the GDP of Botswana.
Though speculation about Apple acquisition targets has been rampant for at least a year, on Monday the Dealbook section of The New York Times culled an Apple shopping list that includes shiny technology ventures Square, the mobile payments company; Path, an app-based social media play; and, of course, Twitter.
While those companies could make sense for Apple by helping expand Apple’s e-commerce strength with on-the-go electronic payments or by plugging holes in a perceived weakness in social media, Apple’s real acquisition target is just as likely to be a stunner. Currently Apple has a market cap of $570 billion. In order to grow to, say, the $1 trillion mark–which is not inconceivable in five years with a compound annual earnings growth rate of 10%–analysts point out Apple would likely have to make a dramatic acquisition in another industry to do so. [read]
