A US federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against Apple that accused the Cupertino-based tech giant of overpaying its CEO Tim Cook and a number of top executives by miscalculating performance-based stock awards. Judge Jennifer Rocohon found no evidence that Apple’s board acted improperly in awarding Tim Cook and other top executives compensation.
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According to a Reuters report, Rocohon found that the plaintiff, a pension fund affiliated with the International Brother of Teamsters, did not give Apple’s board enough time to consider its objections before suing the tech giant.
The judge also ruled that Apple had ” precisely” detailed its pay methods, as required by securities laws and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and that these compensation tables were detailed in the company’s 2023 proxy statement.
The plaintiff had alleged that Apple paid Tim Cook and four other top executives $92.7 million and $94 million in performance-based restricted stock units in 2021 and 2022, respectively, while its performance committee intended to award only $77.5 million each year.
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The pension fund further attributed this alleged error to the committee’s improper calculation of the fair value of the RSUs and argued that it misled shareholders who would cast advisory votes on executive compensation.
How much does Tim Cook earn?
According to Apple’s proxy filings cited by Reuters, Tim Cook earned total compensation of about $99 million in 2021 and 2022, including more than $82 million in stock awards each year. However, Cook’s pay dropped significantly to $63.2 million for 2023.
Meanwhile, the other 4 top executives named in the lawsuit earned more than $26 million in compensation over the three years.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Published: 08 Feb 2024, 07:21 AM IST