Apple CEO Tim Cook receives $373m in shares in five years

Tim Cook, who marked his five-year anniversary as Apple’s chief executive on Wednesday, received shares valued at $373m (€330.6m) during that period as the iPhone maker’s stock doubled on his watch.

When Mr Cook took the helm in 2011, he was granted 1m shares. Originally, 50% of those were scheduled to vest on his five-year anniversary, with the rest coming due after a decade with the company.

That changed in 2013, when Mr Cook voluntarily tied one third of the award to outperforming the S&P 500 Index and the shares began vesting annually.

That has not slowed him down much. He has received over 98% of the units available to him in his first five years, according to data.

Those were valued at $373m at Wednesday’s close and he can still earn the same number of shares over the next half decade.

Mr Cook’s payout is based on Apple returning 61% during the past three years, placing it in the top-performing third of the S&P index.

Mr Cook would get all of his shares for 2016 under those terms. He has earned 3.45m shares under the plan when accounting for a seven-for-one stock split in 2014.

Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock declined to comment, and referred to a January proxy statement on Mr Cook’s share awards.

The stock was trading at close at $107.45 yesterday in New York, up from a split- adjusted $53.74 on the day Mr Cook took over the top job.

He has used buybacks and dividend increases to help ensure that Apple stock outperformed the S&P 500 even as sales slowed.

In 2013, he extended a share-buyback programme sixfold ahead of the iPhone 6 introduction the year after, which reignited growth.

Meanwhile, Apple, which is seeking to capitalise on the popularity of social networks, is developing a video sharing and editing application and is testing new related features for its iPhone and iPad operating systems.

The early plans are part of a newly directed focus to integrate social networking applications and are a response to the success of social media-focused companies.

The growth of Apple’s hardware business is slowing and Mr Cook is looking to the company’s services business as a way to generate increased revenue.

Bloomberg