How is Apple structuring former CEO Tim Cook’s approximately $47 million fiscal-2027 compensation as executive chairman—compared with new CEO John Ternus’s roughly $58 million package, including their salaries, stock awards, performance-based conditions, and the possibility that

Apple is paying Tim Cook almost CEO-level compensation to remain executive chairman: a roughly $47 million fiscal-2027 target, only about $11 million below new CEO John Ternus’s $58 million target. It signals that Cook’s role is intended to be operationally and strategically consequential, not a ceremonial retirement. 23

Compensation structure

• Tim Cook, executive chairman: approximately $47 million in target FY2027 compensation—$2 million salary plus a $45 million target equity award. 23

• John Ternus, CEO: approximately $58 million—a $3 million annual salary plus a $55 million target equity award. 236

• For Ternus, 75% of the $55 million equity grant is performance-based, vesting on Apple’s total shareholder return relative to S&P 500 companies; the remaining 25% is time-based, vesting in 12.5% installments every six months over four years. 7

• The available evidence does not fully specify Cook’s FY2027 grant’s split between performance-based and time-based RSUs. Apple’s existing performance-RSU framework can vest from 0% to 200% of target based on relative shareholder return, so realized compensation can differ substantially from the stated target. 4

Could Cook out-earn Ternus?

Possibly in realized annual pay, but the $47 million and $58 million figures are targets rather than firm cash payouts. Stock-price movements, the ultimate vesting of performance units, and previously granted awards can make either executive’s reported compensation exceed the target or differ from the other’s. Insufficient evidence is available here to conclude that Cook’s new FY2027 award alone has terms that would mechanically let it surpass Ternus’s new award.

What the chairman package implies

• The unusually large package strongly suggests Apple wants Cook retained as an active senior statesman and transition partner while Ternus takes formal control—not merely as a board chair. The compensation sits close to Ternus’s despite Cook’s lower title and reduced salary. 23

• A reasonable inference is that Cook will continue to handle high-level external and institutional matters where his relationships and experience are unusually valuable: engagement with the White House, managing the Beijing relationship, and helping steer supply-chain risks. Those duties are not explicitly enumerated in the compensation evidence, so they should not be treated as formally disclosed responsibilities.

• The arrangement also gives Ternus room to own the product and operating agenda while Cook provides continuity during a potentially delicate succession. Ternus’s first major public test is Apple’s September 9 “Surprise and shine” event, expected to introduce the iPhone 18 Pro line and Apple’s first foldable iPhone. 15

In short, Ternus is being paid to lead Apple’s next era and deliver shareholder returns; Cook is being paid nearly as much to help de-risk the geopolitical, supply-chain, and leadership handoff surrounding it.