Tim cooking up the dough as his Apple pay rises 18% to $74.6M

Apple supremo Tim Cook bagged an 18 percent pay rise in 2024, taking his total compensation to $74.6 million, according to a regulatory filing.

The total remuneration package consisted of a $3 million base salary – unchanged in recent years – as well as $58.1 million in stock awards, $12 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, and $1.52 million in terms of all other compensation.

This compared favorably to $63.2 million the Apple CEO made in 2023 but less so to the near $100 million that Steve Jobs' successor was handed in 2022. Still, with a net worth of $2.5 billion, it's doubtful Cook ever blinks at the fluctuating financial figures.

"Mr Cook's performance, as well as Apple's significant size and scope, support the positioning of Mr Cook's total target compensation within this targeted range," Apple says in its Notice of 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Statement. [PDF]

Presiding over one of the most valued brands on the stock market, with a market capitalization of $3 trillion, comes with its own set of pressures and rewards. It was a decent year for Apple [PDF] with net sales up 2 percent to $391 billion and operating income up 8 percent to $123.2 billion.

Other highlights include Apple Services reaching an all-time high, up 13 percent to $25.12 billion, and gross margin growing 2.1 percent to 46.2 percent. Those reassuringly expensive Macs no doubt played a part here, the installed base of devices reaching 2.2 billion – all the better on which to peddle those services as Apple reported more than one billion subscribers.

Perhaps more importantly, Apple returned some $11 billion to shareholders in the year.

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In addition, the iPhone 16 debuted, coming loaded with Apple Intelligence – first in the US, before landing in the UK last month and upsetting the BBC. The GenAI software comes to the European Union in April, belatedly, due to regulatory concerns and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple said it is worried the DMA "could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security."

Other, erm, successes include Apple Vision Pro VR goggles reaching 13 markets. Unlucky for some.

Others in the C-suite didn't get anywhere near matching the CEO's pay package. Former chief financial officer Luca Maestri got $27.1 million, up from $26.9 million, and chief operating officer Jeff Williams was roughly in the same ballpark.

It's tough at the top. ®