"Team Cook's Stock Bonus Excessive"…World's Largest Proxy Advisory Firm Expresses 'Concern'

by Jeong Hyunjin

Published 17 Feb.2022 10:38(KST)

Apple CEO Tim Cook
Photo by AP News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] ISS, the world's largest proxy advisory firm, has raised concerns about the compensation package worth $99 million (approximately 120 billion KRW) in stock and salary received last year by Apple CEO Tim Cook, and has recommended shareholders vote against it.

According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 16th (local time), ISS stated in a report released that day that there are serious concerns regarding the structure and scale of the stock compensation Tim Cook received in the last fiscal year, arguing that about half of the compensation lacks performance criteria. Some of the stock compensation is designed to be fully payable even if Cook retires, and ISS urged shareholders to oppose it at the upcoming shareholders' meeting on the 4th of next month.

According to Apple's disclosure to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month, CEO Cook received stock compensation including stock options worth $82 million, a salary of $3 million, a performance bonus of $12 million, and other compensation of $1.39 million for the fiscal year ending last September. While the salary remained the same as the previous year, the total compensation significantly increased due to the stock compensation received for the first time since Cook became CEO in 2011.

The stock compensation decided by Apple's Board Compensation Committee in September 2020 amounted to a total of 667,974 shares, half of which are scheduled to be paid in installments over three years starting in 2023. The remaining shares are subject to conditions where the amount could double or, conversely, no shares may remain depending on Apple's stock price as of the scheduled payment date in October 2023.