Tim Cook and other top Apple executives took a pay cut in 2016 for missing targets

Alex Heath

Jan 6, 2017, 21:41 IST

Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla

Tim Cook.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and other top executives at the company were paid less in 2016 for missing performance targets, Apple disclosed on Friday.

The company's top executives took home a combined 89.5% of their potential cash incentive payouts for the year. Cook specifically received $8.75 million in total compensation, which is a 15% decrease from the $10.3 million he was paid in 2015.

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"Overall, our 2016 performance with respect to net sales and operating income was 7.7% and 15.7% below our record-breaking 2015 levels; however, the 2016 payouts to our named executive officers were significantly less than the annual cash incentive payouts for 2015, reflecting strong pay-for-performance alignment," Apple said in a regulatory filing with the SEC on Friday.

iPhone sales, which make up the bulk of Apple's revenue, declined each quarter in 2016 on a year-over-year basis. That slowed growth culminated in the company reporting its first annual revenue decline in 15 years last quarter.

Cook reached his five-year mark as Apple's CEO in August 2016, unlocking 1.26 million shares of Apple stock worth around $135 million. He sold about $36 million of his stock at the time and still has 3.5 million shares that are set to vest over the next five years, depending on performance.