Apple Discloses Compensation Packages for New CEO and Executive Chairman
Apple announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus will receive a compensation package worth about $58 million in fiscal 2027, while Tim Cook, who moves to the role of executive chairman, will receive around $47 million. The disclosure was made on September 1, the first day of Ternus’s tenure, according to Business Standard and The Straits Times.
Ternus, 51, will be paid a $3 million annual base salary and receive a stock grant with a target value of $55 million in fiscal 2027. Three-quarters of his equity award will be based on Apple’s performance relative to the S&P 500, with the remaining 25 per cent tied to time-based stock units that vest semiannually. Additionally, Ternus will receive a prorated amount of restricted stock units worth about $2.5 million in fiscal 2026, which runs through September.
Tim Cook, 65, who has led Apple for 15 years, will have his annual salary reduced from $3 million to $2 million as he takes on the role of executive chairman. The target value of his 2027 stock package is $45 million, with only half of his pay linked to Apple’s performance against the S&P 500. Cook’s total pay package in 2025 as CEO was $74.3 million, as reported by The Straits Times.
Transition Context and Stock Performance
Cook’s tenure saw Apple’s stock gain more than 2,200 per cent, far outpacing the broader market, according to Business Standard and The Straits Times. The company also expanded into new products and boosted its annual revenue to nearly half a trillion dollars. Cook has said he plans to stay in his new role as executive chairman for a long time.
Apple has never disclosed Ternus’s compensation for his prior role as senior vice-president of hardware engineering, but that management level typically gets paid about $25 million annually when including stock, salary, and bonuses, as reported by The Straits Times.
Additional Details on Equity Awards
Fortune reported that Ternus has seven grants of restricted stock covering about 305,000 shares worth about $99 million or more. Nearly half of his restricted stock units are performance-based, with a payout range between $50 million and $148 million. The remaining units vest on a clock, 12.5 per cent every six months over four years.
Fortune also noted that Cook collected a $12 million bonus each of the past two fiscal years, according to Apple’s securities filings. The company did not specify whether Ternus will receive an annual cash bonus, though such bonuses are customary for executives.
Historical Compensation Precedent
Fortune provided historical context from the last CEO transition in 2011, when Cook succeeded Steve Jobs. At that time, Cook was granted 1 million restricted stock units with a grant date value of $376.2 million, on top of a $900,000 salary that was later raised to $1.4 million. Half of the award vested after five years and the other half after ten years. The board’s decision was described as “subjective” and not based on any peer group or formula, a reflection of the circumstances surrounding Jobs’s resignation in August 2011 and his death in October 2011.