| Apple awards Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook 22mn as bonus |
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13/03/2010 12:01 (700 Day 22:44 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Apple Inc. awarded Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook a cash-and-stock bonus worth $22 million for leading the company while Chief Executive Steve Jobs was away on medical leave last year.
According to Bloomberg, the board’s compensation committee unanimously approved a recommendation by Jobs to make the award, Cupertino, California- based Apple said today in a filing. At today’s price, the shares would be worth almost $17 million.
Cook, 49, was in charge of day-to-day operations at Apple between Jan. 14 and June 29 of last year. Jobs, a 55-year-old cancer survivor, had a liver transplant during that time, as the same source reports. While Cook was at the helm, Apple earnings topped analysts’ estimates in two straight quarters and introduced new products.
The bonus comes as Apple launches one of its most important products in recent memory, the iPad tablet computer. On Friday, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company began accepting pre-orders for the iPad, which will serve as a media player, book reader and Web surfing device, The Wall Street Journal informs. The iPad, which has been the subject of intense media attention this year, will ship on April 3.
"The bonus is a reward and is also to stay competitive," said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu, according to Reuters. "Cook has been targeted by other companies, and he's proven to be very adept and capable at leading Apple. I think they need to keep the conversation competitive to keep him from getting lured away," he said.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment beyond the regulatory filing. Jobs stepped away from his duties in January 2009 for health reasons, although he remained involved in major strategic decisions, the same source reports. Cook took over day-to-day operations. Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, underwent a liver transplant while on leave, returning to the company in late June.
According to Bloomberg, Cook ran the company with help from a team of executives, including marketing chief Phil Schiller, design leader Jonathan Ive and retail manager Ron Johnson. Under their guidance, Apple introduced Mac computers, redesigned its iPod media player and began selling a faster version of the iPhone.
Cook also filled in for Jobs in 2004, while the CEO recuperated from surgery for a tumor in his pancreas, as the same source reports.
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