BEIJING, February 17 (TMTPOST) — Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has called for Apple’s shareholders to vote against the US$99 million pay package plan for the company’s CEO Tim Cook.
ISS is the biggest shareholder proxy advisory firm in the United States.
The advisory firm said in a letter to shareholders that there are significant concerns over the design and magnitude of the pay package and that half of the award lacks performance criteria.
ISS also pointed out that Cook’s pay was 1,446 times higher than the average salary for Apple’s employees.
Cook’s pay package included US$630,600 for personal security and US$712,500 for personal use of a private jet. According to ISS, the cost of such perks greatly exceeded comparable companies last year.
Last year, Cook received a US$3 million salary, US$12 million bonus and US$82 million worth of shares.
British financial media Financial Times reported that Apple’s total shareholder return rate has exceeded over 1000% under the leadership of Cook. Apple’s share rose by nearly 30% in the past 12 months. Apple’s valuation hit US$1 trillion in 2018, becoming the first tech company to achieve such valuation. In 2020, Apple’s market valuation reached US$2 trillion.
Apple will hold its annual meeting for shareholders in the first week of March. It is worth noting that shareholder votes are only advisory as Apple’s board has the final say in the pack packages. This means that Apple‘s board could choose to ignore the opposition. However, Apple has stated that it will consider the feedback from shareholders and shareholder votes when deciding on pay packages. At last year"s meeting, 95% of shareholder votes supported Apple"s executive compensation package.
ISS’s opposition to Apple’s pay package plans can date back to seven years ago. In 2011, ISS urged Apple to disclose replacement candidates of the company’s CEO Steve Jobs, who was having health issues at that time. ISS also questioned Jobs’ position on the Disney board.
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