Apple CEO Tim Cook is taking a 40 percent pay cut in 2023

Tim Cook is getting paid around 40 percent lower than last year, according to the annual proxy statement (PDF) Apple has released — and the CEO himself recommended it. Apparently, during the tech giant’s annual advisory meeting for shareholders in 2022, only 64 percent of the “Say on Pay” votes cast regarding the compensation proposals for executives was in favor of retaining their 2021 pay packages. While that’s still majority of the votes, it represents a significant year-over-year decline in approval. As 9to5Mac notes, 94.9 percent of the shareholders who voted the previous year was in favor of the compensation proposals for executives. 

To decide this year’s pay packages, Apple’s Compensation Committee took into account the Say on Pay’s voting results and Tim Cook’s own recommendation “to adjust his compensation in light of feedback received.” For 2023, Cook’s target salary is $49 million, down $35 million from his target salary in 2022. His base pay is still $3 million and his annual cash incentive remains unchanged at $6 million, but his equity award value went from $75 million in 2022 to $40 million this year. Further, he was granted an equity award that’s 75 percent performance and 25 percent …read more