With the leadership transition at Apple, the official documents filed with the SEC offer a clear view of the company’s new compensation structure.
The newly elected CEO John Ternus is preparing to lead the company with an annual compensation set at $58 million for fiscal year 2027. Meanwhile, his predecessor Tim Cook, who assumes the role of executive chairman, will receive an estimated remuneration of $47 million.
These numbers reflect the importance of the respective roles and also a reward structure strongly tied to the group’s financial performance in the stock market.
How much will the new Apple CEO earn?
Until his recent promotion, John Ternus’s salary as senior vice president of the hardware division had never been made public, making these figures a complete novelty. The new documents reveal that his compensation for 2027 is structured as a base salary of $3 million, accompanied by a substantial stock package valued at $55 million.
The distribution of these shares, known as RSU (Restricted Stock Units), follows a well-defined schedule. 25% of the total is time-based and will vest semiannually over a period of 4 years. The remaining, much larger 75% portion will depend exclusively on Apple’s performance relative to the other companies included in the S&P 500 index.
In addition to this package, for the 2026 fiscal year, a pro-rated stock award valued at $2.5 million.
The role of Tim Cook
Despite the new appointment, Tim Cook still carries enormous economic weight. His base salary drops to $2 million, to which $45 million in stock awards are added for 2027.
Unlike his successor, Cook’s allocation of stock awards is perfectly balanced: 50% will vest over 4 years on a time basis, while the remaining 50% will be tied to the financial performance of the company’s shares.
A notable detail concerns the retirement clause: if Cook were to retire starting from the first anniversary of the grant date, his stock rights would still vest, although the actual delivery of the shares would occur only on the dates originally scheduled.
This represents a reduction compared to 2025 earnings, a year in which Cook earned as much as $74.3 million, consisting of a salary of $3 million, cash bonuses of $12 million and stock awards of $57.5 million.
Bonus-related variables
The data emerging from the filed documents provide a clear picture of base figures and stock milestones, but they do not represent the maximum earnings.
The estimates of $58 million for the new leader and $47 million for the executive chairman do not include potential bonuses arising from achieving specific operational milestones.
The final compensation that the two executives will receive by the end of fiscal year 2027 could see substantial upward revisions precisely due to these bonuses.
