[EpochTimesFebruary192022](The Epoch Times reporter Zhou Yun compiled and reported) Apple will hold its annual shareholder meeting in the first week of March. Proxy consulting firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is urging Apple investors to vote against Chief Executive Officer Tim Ku at next month’s annual shareholder meeting, Reuters reported on February 17. Tim Cook’s compensation on the grounds that his compensation and equity awards are too large.
ISS reportedly said in a letter to investors on Wednesday (Feb. 16) that “there are significant concerns about the design and size of the equity award awarded to CEO Cook in fiscal 2021 … half of the award. Lack of performance standards.”
Overall, Apple CEO Cook will earn $98.7 million in 2021, including a $3 million base salary, plus $82.3 million in stock awards, and $12 million in performance-based bonuses to reward Apple last year. The company achieved its performance targets and spent $1.4 million on air travel, among other things.
Cook’s salary is 1,447 times that of an average employee at the tech giant and more than six times his total 2020 earnings, according to a document disclosed in January.
ISS values Cook’s 2021 equity award at $75 million. ISS believes that Cook’s salary and bonuses last year exceeded that of most peer CEOs, and the design and scale of equity awards have major hidden dangers, so it is necessary to vote against this salary distribution system.
Cook took over as Apple’s CEO in 2011, but he won’t receive his first equity award until 2021, but the industry was surprised by an award that was close to hundreds of millions of dollars at a time. Based on the market price on February 17, Apple’s closing price was $168.88 per share, down 2.13% on the day. Apple’s current market cap is $2.76 trillion.
Founded in 1985, ISS Consulting provides corporate governance and responsible investment solutions, market intelligence, fund services and more to institutional investors and companies worldwide by providing high-quality data, analysis and insight. ◇
Responsible editor: Li Huanyu#