Apple’s CEO Cook Made 533 Times More Than Workers

The SEC requires companies to disclose the ratio of CEO pay to the median worker pay. According to the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) proxy, “2025 annual total compensation of our CEO was $74,294,811, the 2025 annual total compensation of our median compensated employee was $139,483, and the ratio of these amounts is 533 to 1. “ While there are some companies with a higher ratio, Cook’s number is still in nosebleed territory

Cook recently said he will retire and will be replaced by John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. Cook has held the job since 2011, making him one of America’s longest-serving CEOs at a large company.

Apple’s financial results are reported on a fiscal year basis, which differs from the calendar year. In the most recent fiscal year, which ended on September 27 of last year, Apple had revenue of $461 billion, up from $391 billion in the previous year. EPS was $7.49, up from $6.11. It is hard to complain about these numbers.

Apple’s stock was up by a few percentage points during the calendar year. It was not a home run period, but neither was it a period that should have troubled investors.

Looking back, Cook was heavily criticized for one decision that may not have been the right one. He did not upgrade iOS, the Apple operating system, with any significant advances in AI features. People who bought the iPhone 17 expected better. There was some grumbling about letting the customer down.

However, iPhone sales did not suffer. Cook dodged that bullet. He opted to do a deal with Google to use Gemini to power Apple Intelligence and Siri. The decision was made early this year, so it really can’t be considered as part of the board’s decisions about Cook’s pay package for last year.

One year does not make a massive difference in a tenure as long as Cook’s has been. However, he has been more than a good steward.