Apple CEO Tim Cook cashes in $120m in stock options

When Apple (AAPL) increased its worth to $1tn this month on the stock market, it paved the way for its CEO Tim Cook to bolster his own wealth.

When Apple became the first US-listed company to be worth $1,000,000,000,000.00, many people pointed out that Cook was in for a bumper pay day.

Now that has been confirmed, thanks to a regulatory filing on 28 August, which shows that Cook cashed in more than $120m (£93m) worth of stock options.

When Cook took over the helm of Apple in 2011 from co-founder Steve Jobs, he received a massive stock award which would only vest across over the subsequent decade to his appointment. The regulatory filing confirmed that he received 560,000 shares, now worth a total of $121m before tax. However, Cook will net just $57m of that as the remainder was withheld to cover tax obligations.

This award is on top of the $3m salary, plus a $9.3m cash bonus he received last year.

In 2015, Cook pledged to give away most of his near $800m fortune to charity. He said “you want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripples for change.” He has already given away $5m to an undisclosed charity.