Tim Cook's Compensation Was Comparatively Modest Among Highest-Paid CEOs of 2020
Apple CEO Tim Cook's 14 million dollar pay in 2020 was relatively modest, compared to other S&P 500 CEOs, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In its annual ranking of CEO pay and compensation, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Tim Cook earned $14,769,259 last year, which is only slightly more than the median $13.4 million pay across the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500) index. The Wall Street Journal also noted that Apple's median employee pay is $57,783.
Apple tops the entire S&P 500 with its value exceeding more than two trillion dollars, so it is surprising that Cook's pay is comparatively modest. Cook's pay rank is the 171st highest out of the S&P 500 CEOs, even though Apple makes up six percent of the entire index.
An increasing number of CEO compensation packages are tied to stocks as boards look to tie executive pay to the fortunes of company shareholders. Although Apple's one-year return for shareholders was 109 percent in 2020, Cook's pay only increased by 28 percent.
Over the course of 2020, Cook's net worth climbed to over one billion dollars, according to calculations from Bloomberg.
The highest-paid CEO was Paycom Software's Chad Richison, who earned more than $200 million. Seven CEOs were given compensation valued at more than $50 million last year, compared with just two in 2019 and three in 2018. Twenty-four S&P 500 CEOs made less than five million dollars last year, including Tesla's Elon Musk, who reported zero pay, and Twitter's Jack Dorsey, who earned just $1.40.
Popular Stories
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing.
Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1.
Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a mockup of what he says the Messages app will look like in iOS 19, demoing an interface with rounded, translucent bubble-shaped navigation buttons at the top and softer, rounder corners for the keyboard and word suggestions.
Jon Prosser's Messages app mockup
The return button, a button for going back to the Messages list, and the FaceTime button have a deeper...
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost.
The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month.
In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4.
For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), which...
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall.
Design
There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site.
The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...