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Tim Cook, Apple CEO, Earned Half As Much As Vice President Of Retail Sales Angela Ahrendts In 2015

By Tara West
Published on: 15:30 PST, Jan 7, 2016

Tim Cook may hold the top executive spot at Apple, but he isn’t the highest paid employee. In fact, he is one of the lowest paid top executives at the successful tech company, earning less than half as much as the Vice President of Retail Sales, Angela Ahrendts. The 55-year-old vice president earned a whopping $25.8 million in the 2015 fiscal year, compared to Cook’s $10.3 million.

The Daily Mail reports that female Vice President of Retail and Online Stores, Angela Ahrendts, was Apple’s top paid executive for 2015. Ahrendts was previously the CEO of Burberry before being recruited in 2014 by Apple. During her tenure as CEO at Burberry, Ahrendts grew the company from a roughly $3 trillion company to over $10 trillion powerhouse. As a result of her obvious skills in the retail sector, Ahrendts was hotly pursued by Apple and was offered a compensation package from the company that matched her abilities. Prior to moving to Apple, Ahrendts was the highest paid CEO in the United Kingdom earning $26.3 million.

Therefore, though Ahrendts pay as Vice President of Retail and Online stores is more than any of her Apple counterparts, it was still less than her highest paid year at Burberry by approximately half a million dollars. However, Angela Ahrendts didn’t make the move to Apple without a cost to the tech giant. In her first year at Apple, Ahrednts earned an astonishing $73.4 million in stock and cash. Therefore, it seems that Ahrendts knew what she was doing when she made the move as her first year’s pay covered any “loss” she may expect in her first few years, plus $20 million of her pay in 2015 was in the form of stock grants that are expected to offer a substantial return for the businesswoman.

Ahrendts wasn’t the only top executive to beat out CEO Tim Cook in the pay department. In fact, Cook was the lowest paid executive in the bunch. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri’s annual compensation was $25.3 million in 2015, also doubling CEO Cook’s payout for the year. Internet software head Eddy Cue was awarded $25 million with SVP of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio also earning $25 million. The SVP General Counsel and Secretary, Bruce Sewell, also clocked in at $25 million.

In comparison, Tim Cook’s $10.3 million earnings in 2015 seem small. However, we can’t feel bad for the Apple CEO as he held 3.1 million shares of Apple stock as of Sept. 26, 2015. Those 3.1 million shares alone are worth approximately $310 million based on closing stock prices. Therefore, it would seem that Cook is not worried about his annual salary but instead focusing on building his wealth via his hefty stock options in the company he plans to grow.

With all wealth accounted for, Tim Cook is worth approximately $785 million and has disclosed his plans for his fortune to the public. Cook says that after paying for his 10-year-old nephew’s college education, he plans to donate the rest of his fortune to charity noting that he wants “to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripples for change.”

What do you think about Apple’s top executive payouts? Does it surprise you that CEO Tim Cook had the lowest top executive salary for 2015?

[Image via AP]

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