Apple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook called a shareholder lawsuit against the company a "silly sideshow" but said he is 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.

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

Repeating previous statements, Cook saidthe company is "seriously" looking at ways to hand out more cash to shareholders.

Cook was speaking at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in San Francisco Tuesday.

-AP