Apple paid $10.3 million last year to its CEO, Tim Cook. This is a staggering amount, until the pay of the company's other top executives are taken into consideration.
Apple awarded its top five executives about $25 million each for 2015, which includes $20 million in stock awards and $5 million in salary and cash bonuses.
The information was revealed through a proxy statement that the company filed on Jan. 6. Apple summarized the data in an Executive Compensation Table.
For 2015, Cook received a salary of $2 million and a bonus of $8 million, according to the table in the filing. The reported pay for Cook does not include the 560,000 restricted stock units which were given to him back in August of 2011 which were meant to compensate him last year. These restricted stock units carried a value of $64.2 million at the end of Apple's fiscal year.
The other Apple executives mentioned in the filing are senior vice president and CFO Luca Maestri; senior vice president,retail and online stores Angela Ahrendts; senior vice president, internet software and services Eddy Cue,; senior vice president, hardware engineering Dan Riccio; and senior vice president, general counsel and secretary Bruce Sewell. These executives were able to receive the full bonus because Apple beat its targets for net sales and operating income.
Notably absent from the compensation report, however, is Jony Ive, Apple's chief design officer and tagged as perhaps the most important employee of Apple.
Apple's Growth And Stability
For fiscal year 2015, Apple posted record sales of $233.7 billion with net income of $53.4 billion. However, despite the strong numbers, investors are still questioning if the iPhone business of Apple is sustainable. With reports that the demand for the latest models of Apple's iPhones are lower than expected, stocks have decreased by 15 percent from the previous month.
The compensation for Apple's top executives, however, reveal stability within the company's management after certain changes were made in 2014. One of the changes was the promotion of Maestri to the CFO position that year, when he received a salary of $717,211 and stock worth $11.3 million.
Another addition to Apple's senior management lineup in 2014 was Angela Ahrendts, who was hired away from being CEO of the Burberry Group to lead the retail and online stores of Apple. Ahrendts was paid $73.4 million in 2014, which included a signing bonus and a grant for the awards that she left behind at Burberry. With that amount, the Bloomberg Pay Index saw her as the highest-paid female executive in the United States in 2014.
Top Paid CEOs In Tech
While his peers made $25 million each for 2015, Cook still made $10.3 million, which is nowhere near a bad haul. His pay, however, pales in comparison to the top paid CEOs in the tech industry, when compared to what these executives received in 2014.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft - $84 million
With the help of a very generous stock compensation package, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella finds himself as the top paid CEO in the tech industry. Nadella has done a great job at Microsoft reviving interest and innovation in the company, and so this trend could continue for a while.
Steve Mollenkopf, Qualcomm - $60 million
Mollenkopf has been with the company for 20 years, which is the majority of Qualcomm's existence. Before he ascended to the CEO position of the chip maker, Mollenkopf was its COO and oversaw investments in products focusing on 3G and 4G technology.
Marissa Mayer, Yahoo - $42 million
Mayer, a former Googler, took on Yahoo's CEO position back in 2012, looking to turn things around for the struggling Internet giant. While she has faced several challenges along the way, Mayer has been making moves to transform Yahoo into a more influential and nimble tech company.
Marc Benioff, Salesforce - $39 million
Benioff is reportedly beloved to Salesforce employees. He is already a billionaire, and his paycheck of $39 million for 2014 just adds to his wealth.
Brian Roberts, Comcast - $32 million
Comcast has been called possibly the most hated or most frustrating company in the world, but that did not prevent Roberts from cashing in with a compensation package of $32 million in 2014.
