Apple CEO Tim Cook will see his annual salary cut by more than 40% this year.
The tech giant says Mr Cook requested the cut after criticism from shareholders.
Apple’s Compensation Committee awarded him “target compensation” totaling $49m (£45.1m) for 2023.
Over the past year, shares of the iPhone maker have fallen sharply amid supply chain issues and a global economic slowdown.
“The Compensation Committee considered feedback from shareholders, Apple’s exceptional performance and a recommendation from Mr. Cook to adjust his compensation in light of the feedback received,” Apple said in a filing with a U.S. financial regulator.
With the move, Mr. Cook’s annual base salary will remain unchanged at $3 million, plus a bonus of up to $6 million.
The biggest difference to his salary package is how he is allocated shares in the company.
In 2022, the company granted him $75 million in stock, half of which was contingent on how well Apple did in the stock market.
For this year, his stock award goal has been reduced to $40 million, with three-quarters of that contingent on stock performance.
Mr. Cook’s 2022 compensation target was $84 million, although his actual total salary for the last year was $99.4 million. That number included $630,600 in personal security expenses and $712,500 for the use of a private jet.
Last year, Apple shareholders were urged by a leading investor advisory group to vote against Mr. Cook’s pay package.
In a letter to investors, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said there were “significant concerns” about the “design and scope” of the package.
According to ISS, Mr. Cook’s salary was 1,447 times the salary of the average Apple employee.
Mr. Cook became Apple’s chief executive in August 2011, just weeks before the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.
Under Mr. Cook’s leadership, Apple became the first company to reach a market valuation of $3 trillion before falling to about $2.1 trillion in a turbulent year for the tech industry.
Covid lockdowns at factories in China, supply chain delays and a global economic slowdown have helped push Apple’s share price down more than 20% over the past year.
According to Forbes magazine, the 62-year-old’s personal fortune is around 1.7 billion US dollars. Mr Cook has promised to give away his entire fortune while he is alive.
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