A new ranking by Bloomberg today has listed "The World's Best-Value CEOs" in order of how well their yearly salaries align with their performance at each company. In total, 100 CEOs of companies from around the world -- including Apple, Alphabet, Verizon, and China Mobile -- were placed in the ranking to determine which organizations "are getting the best value from their CEO."

According to the list, Apple has the eleventh-most-valuable CEO with Tim Cook, whose latest reported pay of around $10.3 million is "a bargain" when compared to Apple's three-year average economic profit of $22.6 billion. Cook's pay is broken down into a salary of $2 million, non-equity incentive plan of $8 million, and "other" compensation of $281,327. Not part of his base salary, Cook netted over 1.2 million Apple shares worth over $130 million upon reaching his fifth anniversary as CEO on August 24, 2011.

tim_cook_fastco
Cook's lower compensation in comparison to other CEOs, along with his performance at Apple, have earned him the spot near the top of Bloomberg's chart. The rankings included companies with market capitalizations of $1 billion or higher, and each CEO had to have served three or more fiscal years to be considered.

Are chief executive officers worth their pay? Apple CEO Tim Cook's $10 million in compensation isn't chump change, but it's a bargain when you compare that to the company's massive average economic profit over the last three years. Other companies pay their CEOs much more, but seem to get a lot less for it. Bloomberg looked at the pay-for-performance ratio of 100 CEOs at some of the largest companies around the world to see which companies are getting the best value from their CEO.

In the number one spot is Kosta Kartsotis of Fossil Group, who has waived compensation completely on an average three-year economic profit of $147 million for the company. Alphabet's Larry Page is in 3rd, Verizon Communication's Lowell McAdam is in 14th, and AT&T's Randall Stephenson is in 65th. Check out Bloomberg's full rankings of The World's Best-Value CEOs right here.

Top Rated Comments

OllyW Avatar
118 months ago
I'm sure not everyone here would agree, to put it nicely.
That's because most members are more interested in the products than the profits.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunapple Avatar
118 months ago
I'm sure not everyone here would agree, to put it nicely.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aussiephil Avatar
118 months ago
I feel like this economic path to success under Cook's rule isn't a sustainable one. Previously, it would seem that Apple's focus was to surprise consumers with amazing technology and impeccable innovation. But now it would seem that their focus is on squeezing costs and increasing margins in every facet of their business. They're taking advantage of what has made them successful but there's only so much mediocrity their loyal followers are willing to put up with before they become loyal no more.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
118 months ago
Cook is a logistics genius. He really is. What he's achieved with manufacturing and markup is unparalleled in the industry.

What he suffers with is something that Jobs was so good at: looking at products from the view of the consumer. If Jobs sat down and used an entry-level Mac Mini in 2016, he'd question why it was so damned slow. The engineers would answer that it's due to the 5400RPM drive. So Jobs would simply make sure it's a Fusion drive at minimum to give the impression of quick real-world performance.

That's what's most frustrating. There's very little that needs to be improved to make every Mac across the board perform to an Apple-quality level. But sometimes I get the feeling he's looking to upsell more than the consumer getting a great product, regardless of what they buy.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gim Avatar
118 months ago
Ripping off customers must be a highly regarded skill for a CEO.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chupa Chupa Avatar
118 months ago
This is "Best Value" not "Best" overall. It's like a $6.99 steak at Golden Coral. Sure it's a "value" as far as steak goes but it's not the best quality and later on in the evening it may come back to haunt you.

These kind of rankings are nothing more than click-bait because they are so one dimensional they fail as useful information.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Wallet ID Illinois

Apple Plans to Expand iPhone Driver's Licenses to These 7 U.S. States

Wednesday December 24, 2025 8:40 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday December 23, 2025 8:36 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another nine months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models. The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID Front camera in...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These 8 New Features to Your iPhone

Monday December 22, 2025 8:47 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple released iOS 26.2, following more than a month of beta testing. It is a big update, with many new features and changes for iPhones. iOS 26.2 adds a Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. Below, we have highlighted a total of eight new features. Liquid Glass Slider on Lock Screen A new slider in the Lock...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Brings AirPods-Like Pairing to Third-Party Devices in EU Under DMA

Monday December 22, 2025 3:20 pm PST by
The European Commission today praised the interoperability changes that Apple is introducing in iOS 26.3, once again crediting the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with bringing "new opportunities" to European users and developers. The Digital Markets Act requires Apple to provide third-party accessories with the same capabilities and access to device features that Apple's own products get. In iOS...
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Why Apple's Foldable iPhone May Be Smaller Than Expected

Tuesday December 23, 2025 5:21 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone, rumored for release next year, may turn out to be smaller than most people imagine, if a recent report is anything to go by. According to The Information, the outer display on the book-style device will measure just 5.3 inches – that's smaller than the 5.4-inch screen on the ‌iPhone‌ mini, a line Apple discontinued in 2022 due to poor sales. The report has led ...
iPhone Chips

Apple Clings to Samsung as RAM Prices Soar

Monday December 22, 2025 6:17 am PST by
Apple is significantly increasing its reliance on Samsung for iPhone memory as component prices surge, according to The Korea Economic Daily. Apple is said to be expanding the share of iPhone memory it sources from Samsung due to rapidly rising memory prices. The shift is expected to result in Samsung supplying roughly 60% to 70% of the low-power DRAM used in the iPhone 17, compared with a...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
chatgpt year end

ChatGPT Now Has a 2025 Year-End Summary Feature Like Spotify Wrapped

Monday December 22, 2025 4:12 pm PST by
OpenAI added a year-end summary feature to ChatGPT, allowing users to get a personalized overview of their 2025 ChatGPT usage. The summary is similar to year-end wrap-ups from companies like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other services. ChatGPT offers up an overview of themes discussed and chat stats, such as busiest chatting day, number of overall chats, messages sent, and more....