As he head of the most profitable company in the world, Tim Cook certainly needs protection. His security expenses cost Apple almost $700,000 (£450,000) a year, according to new figures filed with America’s securities and exchange commission.
The documents, unearthed from a SEC filing last March, count the security detail among the Apple executive’s benefits in kind. Under the heading “all other compensation”, the filing breaks down the figure of $774,176 for 2014.[blockquote type=”left”](i) the Company’s contributions to Mr Cook’s account under its 401(k) plan in the amount of $15,600; (ii) Company-paid term life insurance premiums in the amount of $2,520; (iii) vacation cash-out in the amount of $56,923; and (iv) security expenses in the amount of $699,133.[/blockquote]Elsewhere in the filing, Apple elaborates on Cook’s security expenses: “The Company generally does not provide perquisites to its officers that are not available to employees generally. Although the Company does not consider it to be a perquisite for his benefit, the Company provides home and personal security for Mr Cook because his personal safety and security are of the utmost importance to the Company and its shareholders.”
While that may seem like a lot of money, which it sure is for us, it actually isn’t that much considering how much other tech firms have spent on security for their senior execs in the past.
According to a Fortune article, which quotes a 2014 report by Equilar, Amazon spent the most amount of money looking after its CEO in 2013. Equilar, a firm that tracks executive compensation, reported that Amazon paid out $1.6 million that year on security for Jeff Bezos. During the same period, when Larry Ellison was still CEO of Oracle, $1.5 million was spent on security for him.
Given all the profit that Cook helps Apple earn each year, an extra $700k to keep him safe is the least that they can do for him.
