Einhorn is the Winner Versus Apple

A federal court has allowed David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital to stop Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from putting a preferred stock proposal up for voting in its annual shareholders meeting next week. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan granted a motion by Greenlight for a preliminary injunction stopping the February 27 vote on the proposal.

While Greenlight claimed the measure would eliminate the option of issuing preferred stock from Apple’s charter, the company responded by saying it would only prevent it from offering the stock without consent of investors.

Sullivan said his decision was based on the determination that Apple unfairly bundled three proposals, including the preferred shareholder measure, into one vote. Greenlight alleged that the grouping violated U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Apple said all three measures were related, and hence not in violation of bundling rules.

The judge disagreed with the iPhone maker, finding its argument “unavailing” and ruling that the proposal “impermissibly bundles ‘separate matters’ for shareholder consideration”…