Apple's chief executive says lawsuit is 'silly sideshow'

CUPERTINO, California (AP) - Apple's chief executive Tim Cook on Tuesday called a shareholder lawsuit against his company a "silly sideshow", although he was open to looking at the shareholder's proposals for sharing more cash with investors.

Last week, investor David Einhorn sued Apple, saying a proposal slated for a vote at the company's annual meeting in two weeks would make it more difficult to enact his plan to reward shareholders by distributing a new class of shares.

Mr Cook said the proposal placed more power in the hands of shareholders, making it difficult to understand why a shareholder would fight it.

Repeating previous statements, Mr Cook said the company was "seriously" looking at ways to hand out more cash to shareholders.