Apple CEO Tim Cook
(Picture: Apple Inc./AFP via Getty Images)Apple boss Tim Cook is facing a row over his mammoth pay deal.
Influential shareholder advisory group ISS has told investors to vote against Cook’s compensation package at Apple’s upcoming annual general meeting on March 4.
Cook received $99 million in salary and benefits last year, a huge jump on 2020’s total of $14.7 million. The vast majority of the increase came from the award of 82.3 million Apple stock under a long-term bonus scheme linked to company performance. It is Cook’s first share award since he took over from Steve Jobs as CEO in 2011.
ISS said it had “significant concerns regarding the design and magnitude” of the bonus scheme.
“Half of the award lacks performance criteria and the proxy does not state that the award will cover future years of awards, notwithstanding its large size,” ISS said in a note.
It is the first time ISS has failed to back Cook’s pay deal since 2015.
Apple declined to comment.
In filings, the tech giant’s pay committee said: “Mr. Cook earned significant long-term incentives over the course of a decade, aligning his compensation with the extraordinary value created for our shareholders under his leadership.”
The Californian tech company has delivered a cumulative return of 1174% for shareholders since Cook took charge, according to Apple. That compares to a 363% return for the S&P 500 index over the same period. Apple became the first company to reach a market value of $3 trillion last month.
The pay committee pointed out that Apple also “exceeded the maximum performance goals for both net sales and operating income” in 2021. Sales rose 33% last year to $365.8 billion and operating income was up 64% at $108.9 billion.
As well as recommending shareholders oppose Cook’s pay settlement, ISS urged investors to go against the Apple board and back resolutions about government requests made to Apple to remove apps, Apple’s use of gagging clauses and the publication of reports on forced labour in its supply chain, gender pay gap and racial pay gaps.
