If 80 percent of success in life is showing up, the Apple board of directors have it made.
Reuters released a list of the best-paid US corporate boards, Apple ranks number three. In 2008, the seven-member board of directors pulled $633,000 each for attending five board meetings.
That works out to $127,000 per meeting for board members to sit in a conference room and — according to some, do nothing but graze on the pastries provided — while Steve Jobs calls the shots from the head of the table.
That’s the median price of a house in Greer, South Carolina or Pensacola, Florida. (Sure, neither places are likely to see Apple board member Al Gore plunk down his meeting money on a property, but just to give it a little context.)
The top two spots are held by Nabors, a global oil and drilling company, and Intuitive Surgical Ltd. a robotic health care equipment maker that paid its seven non-employee directors an average of $697,000 last year or about $139,000 per meeting.
Reuters notes that both Shares of both Intuitive Surgical and Apple have more than doubled in 2009. Both companies pay directors largely with stock options, which have become especially valuable in light of their recent performance.
A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment.
Via Reuters
