The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that, when companies file their proxies, also known as DEF 14A filings, they name their five primary officers. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) posted this list in the proxy it filed for its most recent fiscal year, 2021. The rule says that the chief executive officer and chief financial officer must be on the list. The company makes a decision about the other three. These are considered the senior management at public corporations. That is, these people run the organization.
The CEO and CFO are officially called the “principal executive officer and principal financial officer.” The balance of the list, according to the SEC is the “three most highly compensated executive officers other than the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer who were serving at the end of the last completed fiscal year.”
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO for almost a decade, leads the list.
Kate Adams, the general counsel, heads legal operations, which include corporate governance, intellectual property, litigation, compliance, global security and privacy.
Luca Maestri, CFO, runs accounting, business support, financial planning and analysis, treasury, real estate, investor relations, internal audit and tax functions.
Senior Vice President Retail + People Deidre O’Brien runs Apple’s retail and online operations, as well as Apple’s People team, which in most companies who be called human resources. This means she runs two unrelated parts of Apple.
Jeff Williams is Apple’s chief operating officer. He runs worldwide operations and customer service and support. This is mixed with oversight of the development of Apple Watch. He also runs Apple’s health initiatives. Like O’Brien, he runs unrelated parts of the company.
Each of the five has a large pay package. Cook made $14.7 million last year. Maestri made $26.2 million. Adams’s total compensation was $26.2 million, and O’Brien and Williams were paid about $26 million as well. In each case, the pay packages included base salaries, bonuses, stock awards and options, and 401(k) payments. Cook also was compensated for the use of Apple’s private planes and security.
Seventeen Apple executives are listed by the company on its website, including those named in the proxy. They are a mix of hardware and software executives and staff functions, which include marketing.
Apple may launch an email product.
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