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Tim Cook gets 10% pay cut… but still takes home over $40 million

Published Dec 31st, 2013 6:30PM EST
Tim Cook 2013 Compensation

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Apple’s CEO has docked himself a hefty $4 million in pay, as a direct result from Apple’s underperforming stock price earlier this year, according to a proxy statement filed on Sunday (via CNN). Expressing a “strong desire to set a leadership example in the area of CEO compensation and governance,” Tim Cook insisted on putting half of his own stock grants at risk if Apple’s shares underperformed the S&P 500 index this year.

Apple’s stock fell 26% percent from August 2012 through August 2013 while the S&P 500 index rose 18% during the same period. The 50% stock that Cook forfeited was worth nearly $4 million when the stock vested. Even so, that number represents only 10% of what Apple paid its CEO this year: $1.4 million in salary, $2.8 million cash bonus, and $36.4 million in stock grants.

Of Cook’s one million restricted stock units (RSU) award, 80,000 RSU are supposed to vest each year on August 24th for ten years, with 100,000 RSU supposed to vest both in 2016 and in 2021. Thus, each year 40,000 RSU of Cook’s can be directly affected by a negative stock price performance compared to the S&P index. However, this year, Cook only forfeited 7,123 RSU following an award modification change that took place earlier this year during the vesting period of the original 2011 grant.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.