The ex-banker behind Apple-Beats

SPY IN THE HOUSE OF APPLE: Who is Adrian Perica? He's the former Goldman Sachs banker and one-time intelligence officer now overseeing Apple's biggest deals, including the purchase of Beats. So says a Businessweek report, which outlines how, since joining Apple in 2009, the publicity-shy Perica has radically increased Apple's acquisitions, spending on which is said to have increased 87% last quarter. In 2009 Cupertino made just two acquisitions (that we know about); in the 18 months preceding April's SEC filing, it bought 24 companies. Perica is said to have assembled "a rapid-reaction force of former investment bankers and MBAs" to streamline and accelerate the acquisitions process, and his intelligence background is ideal for Apple's doctrine of extreme secrecy. As we've noted, the Beats deal has been good for Apple's rep on Wall Street because it seems to presage more and bigger purchases by a company that had, under Steve Jobs, mostly been sitting on its hoard of cash. Apple stock crested at $644, its highest price in 18 months, earlier today. (5/30p)