Apple CEO Tim Cook’s total compensation dropped to $125M for 2019

Apple CEO Tim Cook received $3 million in salary in 2019, the same as in 2018, and a $7.67 million bonus, which was down from $12 million year over year.

Kif Leswing for CNBC:

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s total pay decreased last year as the company failed to exceed its financial targets by as much as it did in 2018. But he still pulled in over $125 million in total compensation. According to an SEC filing on Friday, Cook received $3 million in salary for 2019, the same as a year earlier, while his bonus decreased to $7.67 million from $12 million.

The majority of Cook’s pay came from the vesting of $113.5 million worth of Apple shares. All in, Cook’s salary, bonus and vesting compensation for the year declined by 8% from $136 million in 2018. Since 2011, the year Cook became CEO, his compensation has totaled $963.5 million, according to Equilar.

Cook also received over $800,000 in other compensation, including a $16,800 contribution to his 401(k) plan and security expenses of $457,082. Apple’s board of directors also requires Cook to fly private, which cost the company $315,311 in 2019.

Apple’s median employee made $57,596, up from $55,426 a year earlier. Not including his 2011 stock grant, which accounts for the majority of Cook’s pay, the CEO’s compensation of $11.6 million last year was 201 times the amount earned by the median Apple employee.

MacDailyNews Take: First of all, the vast majority of Apple employees are retail store staff, hence the low median figure. It would make more sense and be more intellectually honest to compare Cook’s salary with the median earned by non-retail employees. In that case Cook is not making 201 times the median. And, secondly, Cook, if he hasn’t already, is about to join the billionaires’ club! (We bet he’s there already.)