Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, accepts a 40% pay cut

London
CNN
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Apple CEO Tim Cook recommended the company cut his salary this year after shareholders revolted.

The world̵[ads1]7;s largest technology company said it would reduce Cook’s target pay package to $49 million, 40% lower than his target salary for 2022 and about half of Cook’s total compensation of $99.4 million he was awarded last year.

The vast majority of Cook’s 2022 compensation — roughly 75% — was tied up in company stock, with half of it contingent on share price performance.

But shareholders voted against Cook’s pay package after Apple’s shares fell nearly 27% last year. The vote is not binding, but the board’s compensation committee said Cook requested the reduction.

“The compensation committee balanced shareholder feedback, Apple’s exceptional performance and a recommendation by Mr. Cook to adjust compensation in light of the feedback he received,” the company said in its annual proxy statement released Thursday.

This year, the manager’s share award target has been cut to $40 million. Approximately USD 30 million, or three quarters, of this is linked to share price developments.

Cook’s $3 million base salary will remain the same, the company said, as well as a $6 million bonus.

The board said it believes Cook’s new pay package is “responsive to shareholder feedback while continuing to both align pay with performance and recognize Mr. Cook’s outstanding leadership.”

The technology chief, who has led Apple since 2011, is estimated to have a personal fortune of $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.

Apple’s share price, like other technology companies, plunged last year when the coronavirus closed some of its factories in China. Bottlenecks in the supply chain and fears that a global economic downturn would reduce demand also dragged down inventories.

In January of last year, the tech giant became the first publicly traded company to reach a market value of $3 trillion, but has since lost nearly $1 billion of that value.