Apple CEO Tim Cook will probably receive a hefty pay decrease in 2023. One of the ideas in Apple’s proxy statement for shareholders is to lower Cook’s pay from $99 million in 2022 to $49 million this year.
The drop was requested by Apple’s Salary Committee, which is made up of three members of the Apple Board and decides on executive pay at the company, because shareholders were concerned about Cook’s overall compensation, the document claims.
“Cook’s projected total remuneration for 2023 is $49 million, down from his planned total compensation for 2022 by more than 40%. The Compensation Committee also plans to set Mr. Cook’s annual target pay for succeeding years between the 80th and 90th percentiles in comparison to our main peer group,” the report says.
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The document states that Cook is in favor of the adjustments to his pay. Before Apple Investor Day on March 10—when shareholders will decide whether to accept or reject the proposal—the proxy statement was made public.
It’s important to note that Cook’s entire target salary for 2022 was really $84 million, but Cook earned more since Apple met key revenue and sales targets. The suggested basic pay for Cook in 2023 is $3 million, while his annual cash bonus is set at $6 million, both unchanged from the previous year. His planned stock reward value for 2023 is $40 million, down from $75 million last year, and a larger share of it is performance-based.
The target remuneration for other key Apple executives, including CFO Luca Maestri, COO Jeff Williams, SVP of Retail and People Deirdre O’Brien, and SVP, General Counsel and Secretary Kate Adams, is unchanged from the previous year.
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While shareholder criticism appears to be the main driver behind the proposed wage drop, it’s likely that Apple is also preparing for a possible recession in 2023. Apple managed the epidemic years effectively, but recent supply chain constraints have hurt sales. In 2018, the price of the company’s shares fell by 24 percent, briefly bringing its market capitalization below $2 trillion in December 2022.
