Tim Cook was the second best paid executive in the world last year
Sarah Anderson, the director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, said, “While excessive compensation might be most dangerous at Wall Street firms because of the systemic risk, sky-high pay throughout corporate America encourages many types of socially and environmentally damaging behavior. And in many sectors, like tech, I think it has largely gotten a pass.”
Four of the highest-paid CEOs last year were in the tech industry; the one that we didn’t previously mention was Intel CEO Robert Swan whose total compensation of $99 million placed him seventh on the list.
Apple’s shares have risen more than six-fold since Tim Cook permanently replaced Steve Jobs as Apple CEO
Apple’s board feels that it can justify these huge checks because much of the pay is based on how well the stock has done. And with Apple’s shares closing the week at an all-time high, its executives are being rewarded for making investors wealthier.
During normal times, we’d expect a new contract for Cook to include more incentives including larger stock awards. But in this day and age when executive pay is scrutinized more than ever, it will be interesting to see what kind of deal Apple and its CEO agree to.
