Tim Cook to take 40 percent Apple pay cut in 2023

Apple CEO Tim Cook plans to take a 40 percent pay cut in 2023 compared to his total compensation from last year. 

The company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday that Cook’s total target compensation for this year will be $49 million, down from the $84 million total target compensation he had in 2022. 

Cook’s total compensation for 2023 is based on a $3 million base salary, a $6 million cash incentive and $40 million in equity awards, the filing states. 

Apple’s compensation committee makes decisions about compensation before the start of each fiscal year and sought to balance feedback from shareholders, the company’s “exceptional” performance and Cook’s own recommendation that his pay be adjusted as a result of the feedback. 

The filing states that most of Cook’s compensation since he was promoted to CEO in 2011 has come from long-term equity awards, which have been in line with the company’s growth and “tremendous value” that shareholders have received during his tenure. 

The company’s relative total shareholder return has increased more than 1,000 percent under Cook. 

But his total compensation rose from $14.8 million in 2020 to $98.7 million in 2021. He ultimately received $99.4 million in 2022, The Associated Press reported. 

The compensation committee plans to have Cook’s annual target compensation between the 80^th and 90^th percentiles compared to the company’s primary peer group in the future, according to the filing. 

Apple’s annual shareholder meeting, in which shareholders cast an advisory vote on executives’ compensation, will happen on March 10, the filing states.