Apple CEO Tim Cook earned almost $100 million in 2021 — a 550% increase on the previous year
- Apple awarded CEO Tim Cook $98.7 million in compensation in 2021.
- Cook made $15 million in 2020, meaning his pay has increased by 558%.
Apple CEO Tim Cook received a compensation package of $98.7 million in 2021, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cook's 2021 pay package was 558% larger than in 2020, when the company awarded him $15 million in compensation.
The vast majority of Cook's 2021 compensation took the form of stock awards, which are due to start vesting next year. Cook was awarded $82.3 million in stock awards. Per CNBC, they will keep vesting even if Cook retires.
Cook also received a $12 million incentive based on Apple's financial performance. His salary remains pegged at $3 million.
The $98.7 million pay package included $630,630 in security expenses and $712,488 that Apple spent on personal air travel for Cook.
Cook has been CEO of Apple for ten years. In 2021, he had to contend with increasing employee unrest, with some Apple Store employees staging a walkout to demand better working conditions on Christmas Eve.
Other Silicon Valley executives such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg make tiny salaries. Musk's 2020 salary was $0 and Zuckerberg's was $1, but both received millions or billions more in other forms of compensation. Musk earned $6.7 billion in 2020.