Apple CEO’s pay holds steady at $74m in 2025

Apple CEO Tim Cook received total compensation of about US$74 million in 2025, according to a regulatory filing.

Cook had US$74.6 million in compensation the previous year.

Most of Cook’s pay package came from stock awards, while his base salary remained at US$3 million, unchanged from previous years.

Cook took a pay cut in 2023 after criticism of his previous compensation packages, which had approached US$100 million annually.

Other Apple executives, including chief operating officer Sabih Khan and outgoing general counsel Kate Adams, each received around US$27 million in compensation last year.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Cook’s pay includes board-required private flights and security costs

The 2025 “$74 million” for Cook includes $1.7 million in “other compensation”, covering $887,870 for security services plus $789,991 for air travel 1.
Since the board mandates private aircraft, part of these costs is not discretionary yet they still roll into his reported “compensation”, which muddies CEO pay comparisons across firms with different security or travel policies 1 2.
Apple’s proxy statement (a regulatory filing sent to shareholders) lists these amounts under “other compensation” 3. It also details performance-based targets with Cook receiving $12 million in performance-based cash awards in 2025, while his $59 million target compensation matches 2024 3.

Big Tech pay transparency offers benchmarks for HR advisors

S&P 500 CEO pay rose 7% to $18.9 million in 2024 while the CEO to worker ratio hit 285 to 1, which boosts demand for analysis splitting performance-based awards from one-time grants 4.
Compensation consultants (firms that advise boards on executive pay) and HR tech platforms (software used by HR teams to manage compensation) that serve mid-market (midsize) companies can build tools that compare Apple’s 2025 $12 million performance-based cash award 3 with Microsoft’s 2023 $6.4 million non-equity incentives plus Meta’s 2023 security-heavy packages to guide board decisions 2.
Institutional investors plus proxy advisors (firms that recommend how shareholders should vote on pay plus governance matters) can use disclosures and the February 24, 2026 shareholder meeting to shape voting guidance, as several early filers lifted CEO pay while earnings stayed flat 5 6.