- Apple CEO Tim Cook will be taking a substantial pay cut in 2023, reducing his compensation by about half to $49 million.
- The decision comes after criticism from investors and at the request of Cook himself.
- Most of Cook’s pay will be in the form of stock grants, and his $3 million annual salary will remain unchanged.
- Last year, Cook’s total compensation was $99.4 million, which prompted backlash from advisory firms such as Institutional Shareholder Services.
- The changes include a shift in focus of Cook’s stock awards from time-based to performance-based, and a decrease in the overall target equity awards from $75 million to $40 million.
In 2023, the CEO of Apple Inc., Tim Cook, will be taking a significant reduction in pay, reducing it by approximately 50% to $49 million. This decision comes after receiving criticism from investors and at the request of Cook himself.
“Taking into consideration Apple’s comparative size, scope and performance, the compensation committee also intends to position Mr. Cook’s annual target compensation between the 80th and 90th percentiles relative to our primary peer group for future years.”
-Apple
On Thursday, Apple Inc. informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that most of Tim Cook’s pay will be in the form of stock grants, and that his annual salary of $3 million will remain unchanged, as per the filing.
In the previous year, Cook’s overall compensation amounted to $99.4 million, which included a salary of $3 million, around $83 million in stock awards, and $13.4 million in additional awards. This generated backlash from entities such as Institutional Shareholder Services. According to the annual proxy filing of Apple, Cook and the board’s compensation committee took into account this response and decided to make the changes.
“The Compensation Committee balanced shareholder feedback, Apple’s exceptional performance, and a recommendation from Mr. Cook to adjust his compensation in light of the feedback received,” the filing states.
Cook’s stock awards will now be performance-based rather than time-based, and the total target equity rewards will reduce from $75 million to $40 million. Cook’s $3 million annual pay and $6 million projected cash bonus will not alter.
As per the filing made on Thursday, the average compensation for Apple employees in 2022 was $84,493. The filing revealed that Cook’s total compensation was 1,177 times more than that amount. The stock of Apple has fallen by 24% over the past year, while the S&P 500 index has dropped by 15.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which includes Apple as a component, has decreased by 6.4%. After being valued at over $2 trillion throughout 2022, the company’s market capitalization dropped below that mark at the start of this year.
Last year, Apple’s stock price jumped after Tim Cook’s comments on Metaverse.
