When the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs stepped down, all eyes were on his replacement Tim Cook, who promised staff things wouldn't change just because Steve was gone. However, one thing that definitely changed was the CEO's salary. While Steve Jobs earned just $1 per year (don't worry, Mr Jobs had approximately 5.5 million Apple shares, he wasn't starving), Tim Cook's salary was significantly more. However, it seems Tim Cook's compensation package took a hit in 2012.
According to an SEC filing from Apple, Tim Cook received $4.17 million in compensation for 2012. This is down almost 99 percent from last year's compensation package, though his actual salary was over 50 percent more than he received in 2011. How does that work? Well, Cook's compensation package is comprised of several components, his salary being just one of them. Cook's compensation of $378 million for 2011 was mostly made up of a one-off stock grant. His actual salary was "just" $900,000. Apple said in an SEC filing that the board decided late last year to give Cook a base salary raise.
"In November 2011, the Compensation Committee determined that it was appropriate to increase Mr. Cook’s base salary to $1,400,000 from $900,000," the filing reads. "Mr. Cook's cash compensation is set at a higher level than the cash compensation for the other members of the executive team to reflect his responsibilities for the overall leadership of the Company."
Apple goes on to say that Cook is part of the same performance-based bonus program as the other Apple execs, which means he has the opportunity to earn a maximum bonus of 200 percent of his base salary.
With his base salary of just under $1.4 million and 2.8 million from Apple's non-equity incentive plan (plus about seventeen grand in 'other compensation') Tim Cook's total salary for 2012 was $4,174,992. In comparison, other Apple execs received quite a bit more thanks to sizable stock awards. CFO Peter Oppenheimer earned $68,591,562 ($66,169,750 in the form of a stock award), while Senior VP of Operations, Jeffrey Williams, earned $68,691,612 thanks to a stock award of similar value.
