Apple execs pull in massive bonuses, Jobs abstains

Several of Apple's senior executives took in considerable pay for 2007, SEC filings show. Reuters reports that for example, while Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer took in a $600,000 salary, and Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook received $700,000, both received bonuses equal to their regular pay, making for "true" salaries of $1.2 and $1.4 million, respectively. Apple's Compensation Committee is meanwhile considering paying some sort of bonus to CEO Steve Jobs, who has only taken a $1 salary each year since returning to the company in 1997. Most of his income is derived from an approximate 5.5 million shares of stock.

The news may upset some investors and the public at large, as financial results announced yesterday were actually below those expected by analytical firms such as Piper Jaffray and American Technology Research. In recent years, Apple has frequently surpassed the expectations of both researchers and its own traditionally conservative guidance. Jobs defends the company's present state, calling the December quarter Apple's "best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history."

Filed under: Investor, Apple
Other story tags: Steve Jobs