Working at the highest echelons of the world's largest tech company sure has its perks.
Just last month, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook enjoyed a hefty payday upon the vesting of some restricted stock units, or RSUs. Based on Dec. 30 closing prices, the position was valued at $96.2 million, with the RSUs in question vesting by the end of March. Apple shares have rallied a monstrous 48% this quarter, bumping up that payday's value to roughly $142 million.
Keep in mind that's only part of Cook's RSU position. The largest of his numerous RSU grants over the years is the million RSUs he received upon becoming CEO, half of which vest in 2016, with the other half vesting in 2021. A handful of other execs also got juicy RSU awards in November, to make sure they stuck around after Steve Jobs' death.
|
Name |
Title |
RSUs Awarded (Nov. 4, 2011) |
|---|---|---|
| Scott Forstall | Senior VP, iOS Software | 150,000 |
| Bob Mansfield | Senior VP, Hardware Engineering | 150,000 |
| Peter Oppenheimer | Senior VP, CFO | 150,000 |
| Phil Schiller | Senior VP, Worldwide Marketing | 150,000 |
| Jeff Williams | Senior VP, Operations | 150,000 |
| Bruce Sewell | Senior VP, General Counsel | 150,000 |
| Eddy Cue | Senior VP, Internet Software and Services | 100,000 |
Source: SEC Form 4 filings.
Industrial-design exec Jony Ive's position lets him escape SEC disclosures, but anyone at the top of Apple clearly enjoys cushy equity compensation.
So when retailer J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) landed Apple retail head Ron Johnson last summer (Apple has since replaced him with John Browett), Johnson knew he was giving up a pricey seat. He'd left Apple by the time of the November RSU awards, but J.C. Penney did try to make it up to Johnson with a special $53 million stock award to help compensate for all those Apple RSUs he was giving up.
At the time, the award covered less than two-thirds of what Johnson was sacrificing. With Apple's mean rally recently, that opportunity cost has jumped, and Reuters estimates that he's now lost out on about $120 million in RSU gains.
I wouldn't worry too much about Johnson, though. He already owns about 230,000 shares, so he's still enjoying Apple's run. Besides, Johnson isn't in it for the money (I doubt he's having trouble paying his mortgage) -- he's in it to be CEO.
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