Bloomberg: Apple Requires CEO Cook to Hold 10 Times Salary in Stock

Adam Satariano, a reporter for Bloomberg News in San Francisco, writes:

“Apple Inc. (AAPL) is requiring executives to hold more stock as a multiple of their salary, amid pressure from investors to more closely link pay to equity performance as slowing growth batters the shares.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will be required to hold 10 times his base salary in shares, and other senior executive officers must own triple their base salary in stock, according to ownership guidelines that took effect Feb. 6 and are posted on the company’s website. Non-employee directors need to hold five times their annual retainer in stock.

The more than one-third drop in Apple’s stock since September has attracted increasing investor attention to the company’s strategy decisions. The influential proxy-voting service Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. recommended investors vote against executive compensation packages at Apple’s shareholder meeting this week.

‘Apple is playing a little bit of catch up right now on pay for performance,’ said Jonas Kron, director of shareholder advocacy and corporate engagement at Trillium Asset Management LLC, which owns Apple shares. ‘The basic premise is to align their financial interests with the financial interests of shareholders…’”

You can read the entire story here.