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Apple shares have stumbled since peaking in late September, but by almost every other metric the company had a blockbuster year in 2012. That is reflected in the richer pay packages awarded to most of the company's senior executives, with the exception of Chief Executive Tim Cook.
CFO Peter Oppenheimer, technologies chief Robert Mansfield, general counsel Bruce Sewell and operations head Jeffrey Williams will each bring home more than $68 million in total compensation in 2012, while Cook will take home a paltry-by-comparison $4.2 million. The figures turned up Thursday in a preliminary proxy statement the Cupertino, Calif. company filed with the SEC.
The reason is by no means a reflection of a bad job by Apple's boss. When Cook was promoted to CEO in August 2011 -- shortly after Steve Jobs stepped down and weeks before his death -- the new chief was granted 1 million restricted stock units with a 50/50 vesting schedule five and ten years after the grant date.
As such, Cook was not granted an RSU award in 2012, which explains why his compensation dropped to $4.2 million from $378 million in 2011, even though the company easily exceeded the performance targets set for executives.
Net sales of $156.5 billion cruised past the target of $135.5 billion and maximum incentive level of $140 billion, as did operating profit of $55.2 million (target: $38.8 billion, max: $40.7 billion). That performance, which enriched his fellow senior executives in 2012 thanks to hefty stock awards, did little to pad Cook's bank account for the time being.
Apple's compensation committee includes J. Crew Chairman and CEO Mickey Drexler, former Vice President Al Gore and is chaired by Avon Products Executive Chairwoman Andrea Jung. The committee sets executive pay using a peer group of 19 companies with revenue of at least $15 billion, including tech rivals Amazon, Microsoft and Google as well as entertainment heavyweights like Time Warner and Walt Disney.
Shares of Apple dipped 0.6% to $510.15 Thursday. The stock is more than 27% below its September peak of $705.07, but still up more than 26% for the year.
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