Apple CEO Tim Cook's pay rose to $98.7m in 2021

Company head's paycheque jumped more than six times his 2020 salary of $14.7m

Apple chief executive Tim Cook welcomes customers during a visit to an Apple Store in Los Angeles in November. AP

Apple chief executive Tim Cook earned more than $98.7 million in salary last year, more than six times his 2020 salary of $14.7m, read a statement that the Cupertino-based company has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

He earned a fixed base salary of $3m but was awarded $12m in incentives for his performance and more than $1.3m in other monetary benefits. His compensation last year also included more than $82.3m in stock awards.

Mr Cook, who has led one of the world’s most valued technology firms since 2011, took home almost $84m more than the amount he earned in 2020. However, his 2020 package did not include stock benefits.

His 2021 compensation also includes $17,400 under a 401(k) pension plan, a holiday cash-out of $23,077, security expenses of $630,630 and personal air travel expenses of $712,488, including the chief executive’s use of private aircraft based on hourly flight charges.

For security and efficiency reasons, Apple’s board enacted a policy in 2017 that requires Mr Cook to use private aircraft for all business and personal travel, the company said in the filing.

In August, Mr Cook also received more than five million shares as he completed 10 years in the top job. The tranche of shares was part of the deal that Mr Cook struck when he took over from the company’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, in August 2011.

He has sold most of the shares for more than $754m, a regulatory filing submitted by the company to the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed. As the shares were granted in previous years, the $754m does not count as part of Mr Cook’s prior year compensation package.

Mr Cook, 61, served as the company’s chief operating officer before taking over the top job.

He joined Apple in March 1998 and served as executive vice president for worldwide sales and operations from February 2002 to October 2005. From October 2000 to February 2002, he served as senior vice president for operations, sales, service and support.

“Among other qualifications, Mr Cook brings to the board extensive executive leadership experience in the technology industry … [under his leadership] Apple delivered outstanding results for our shareholders in 2021,” the company said in the filing.

In the last financial year that ended on September 25, the company reported a record $365.8 billion in net sales and $108.9bn in operating income, representing 33 per cent and 64 per cent annual increases, respectively.

Other Apple executives such as chief financial officer Luca Maestri, Kate Adams, senior vice president for general counsel and secretary, chief operating officer Jeff Williams, and Deirdre O'Brien, senior vice president for retail and people, received compensation ranging from $26m to more than $27m last year.

In 2021, the median pay for employees was $68,254, up from $57,783 in 2020, Apple said.

On January 3, Apple's market value briefly rose above the $3 trillion mark, shattering yet another record and underscoring how the Covid-19 pandemic has turbocharged Big Tech’s decades-long rise.

Apple’s stock was trading at $172.3 a share at 2.20pm New York time on Friday, giving the company a market valuation of more than $2.83tn.