Apple, a company you have heard of around these parts, released its 2012 Proxy Report yesterday, revealing how much executives at Apple Inc. made in the past year. So in the post-Jobs era, how much more might the new CEO, Tim Cook, be taking in as the new boss? Approximately 377,000,000% more than Jobs.
I know, that sounds like Monopoly money, but the reason Cook is making out like gangbusters at Apple is because Jobs collected all of $1 as his annual salary for the last three years he was at Apple. No stocks, no bonuses, no other compensations – one single greenback and… that’s it. Cook, on the other hand, is taking in a cool $377.9 million a year. Some may say this is justifiable given Apple’s continued success after Jobs left the company last year, especially after yesterday’s flusher-than-usual day at the stock market.
What’s more interesting – to me, at least, because I didn’t know this – is that former Vice President and enviro-paladin Al Gore is on Apple’s bankroll. He’s actually been on the Board of Directors since 2003, which I guess is just a fun tidbit to drop in conversations at the watering hole on top of everything else he’s got on his resume. He’s also listed in the report as the Chairman of the Climate Reality Project. You go, Mr. Gore.
Aside from the re-affirming fact that an Apple executive makes more money than you will ever see in your lifetime, the rest of the report appears to be pretty routine. Despite what any of you might think of Jobs and his humble $1-a-year compensation for being Apple’s Chief Executive Wizard, it’s somewhat amusing to wonder if Cook feels any self-applied pressure to mimic the magnanimous actions of Jobs and decline the beaucoup bucks that he’s making.