It’s good to be the CEO — Apple chief executive Tim Cook was paid $98.7 million in 2021. That’s a combination of a base salary, an incentive plan and other compensation, but the lion’s share is in Apple stock.
Other top Apple executives also have 8-figure annual compensation packages, if not anywhere close to Cook’s.
Apple CEO Tim Cook sure ain’t hurtin’ for cash
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Apple wrote, “Our executive compensation program is designed to motivate and reward outstanding performance in a straightforward, consistent, and effective way, commensurate with Apple’s size, performance, and profitability.”
Cook’s base pay for 2021 was $3 million, the same it’s been for several years. Plus he received an annual cash incentive of $12 million. He earned this because Apple’s net sales and operating income for the year were well above goals that had been set by the board of directors.
Other compensation came in at $1.4 million. This includes $630,630 spent on Cook’s security. And (hilariously) $17,400 in 401(k) contributions from the company.
But the big number came from stock awards, which totaled $83.3 million for Apple’s CEO in 2021. The SEC filing shows he received no stock awards in 2020 and 2019. But it’s not that simple: in 2020, Tim Cook was awarded a huge chunk of stock options which will begin vesting in 2023.
Compensation for other Apple executives
Other top Apple execs also got substantial payouts in 2021 from salary, bonuses and stock options. The SEC filing included the compensation packages for COO Jeff Williams, head of HR and Apple retail Deirdre O’Brien, CFO Luca Maestri, and General Counsel and Secretary Kate Adams.
And they all took in almost exactly $27.0 million. The amounts for each person aren’t identical but round to be the same. These were all relatively slight increases over the previous year.
