Remuneration of Apple boss outrages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund

Too much is too much, essentially believes the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund concerning the remuneration of Tim Cook, the general manager of Apple. The fund, the most richly endowed in the world with more than 1.1 trillion euros in assets, owns 1.03% of the capital of Apple. He announced Sunday that he was going to vote against the remuneration of Apple executives and in particular that of his number one at the general meeting of shareholders scheduled for March 4. A total envelope of 99 million dollars over one year.

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The oil fund’s decision follows a recommendation from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the proxy advisory firm for investors, to vote against Apple’s compensation policy. In a letter that FinancialTimes has obtained, ISS has stated that there is “a serious problem” with the equity award Cook received last year for the first time since 2011.

$712,488 for personal use of a private jet

In 2021, the Apple boss received shares worth $82 million when they were awarded, in addition to a cash bonus of $12 million and a salary of $3 million .

His compensation package also includes $630,630 for personal security costs and $712,488 for personal use of a private jet. Benefits that have “greatly outdated” those of comparable companies last year – bringing Cook’s total for 2021 to $98.7 million. For the Norwegian fund, Apple must ensure that “all remuneration has a clear rationality”. He also believes that shares awarded to executives should be blocked “for five to ten years”.

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Shareholder votes on Apple executive pay are advisory and do not bind the board of directors to take action.
Last year, Apple briefly crossed the cap of 3000 billion dollars in market capitalization, a first in stock market history.