Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, has almost halved his salary: the reasons

The American company Apple continues to make changes to its organization: after receiving a request from Tim Cook himself, Apple would have decided to cut the salary of its executive director by more than 40%, dropping to 49 million dollars in 2023. In its latest results presentation, last week, the company revealed that the proportion of Actions awarded to Cook will increase this year from From 50% to 75%.

This news comes just after the company decided to transform its modus operandi, implementing new changes in its own production and sales processes.

Among the latest movements of Apple, it is worth noting the cut in the production of the iPhone 14 due to poor sales and their plans to use home made chips and screens in their devices so they are not reliant on Asian suppliers like LG and Samsung. Also, a much more surprising project leaked this week: Apple’s plans to add touch screens to its laptops macbooksomething Steve Jobs always rejected.

Last year Cook grossed a whopping $99.4 million in his base salary, bonuses and stock dividends. A figure very similar to that entered in 2021, when the executive director it earned about $98.7 million. Now the company has decided to “reposition Mr. cookingaccording to Bloomberg.

This decision was taken after a flurry of criticism from Apple’s own shareholders, who clarified their position in the face of the huge compensation received from the CEO of the company in recent years.

These complaints from the team have Cook reflecting on his current position, making a shocking decision: in 2023 his salary will drop by 40%. up to $49 million.

Salary vote

Last year, in the advisory vote on executive pay, shareholders showed their discontent: support fell from 95% to 64%. Likewise, the company’s nearly 30% drop in shares prevented Cook from continuing his earnings pace.

This uncomfortable situation has led Apple to reduce the incentive in shares. The same company highlighted: “The remuneration committee has weighed the opinions of the shareholders, the exceptional performance of Apple and a recommendation from Mr. Cook to adjust its remuneration in the light of the opinions received”.

Bloomberg points out that the ‘new salary’ Cook will consist of a base salary of $3 million and a variable bonus of up to $6 million that he also earned in 2022.

To this figure must be added a stock award of about 40 million dollars, so the Apple CEO will have a salary drop of almost 50%. However, the company’s stock performance could positively affect Cook’s final compensation this year.

It’s not uncommon to see CEOs voluntarily lower their salaries, which is why most of the Apple team will keep their pay.

In 2022 they got the four top executives of the company $27.15 million each. This group is made up of Luca Maestri, financial director; Kate Adams, general secretary, Deirdre O’Brien, vice president with responsibility for stores and human resources, and Jeff Williams, director of operations.

While the salaries of these four executives depend heavily on the company’s results and profitability, no pay cuts are expected in 2023 so far. After Apple’s stock fell 27% last year, the apple company looks to recover at the moment, up 2.7% so far this year.