Ternus Begins Apple CEO Role with $55M Equity Award Tied to S&P 500 Performance
John Ternus officially became Apple's CEO on Tuesday, receiving a $3 million salary and $2.5 million in restricted stock units for the remainder of fiscal 2026. The board also approved a $55 million annual equity award for fiscal 2027, with 75% contingent on Apple's total shareholder return relative to the S&P 500. Former CEO Tim Cook, now executive chair, saw his salary cut to $2 million and received a $45 million equity target.
Ternus’s new package includes a $3 million salary and prorated restricted stock for the remainder of fiscal 2026, with the larger $55 million award for fiscal 2027 tied heavily to Apple’s shareholder return versus the S&P 500. Tim Cook’s salary drops to $2 million, and his $45 million equity target splits evenly between time-based and performance-based vesting. Cook’s 2011 grant, valued at $376 million, was later partially restructured to include performance conditions after he requested them. Ternus already holds roughly 305,000 shares from prior hardware-engineering grants, with performance units that could pay between $50 million and $148 million.
This compensation structure may signal how boards now tie CEO pay to market benchmarks, potentially influencing executive behavior toward short-term stock performance. Shareholders could see alignment with returns, but employees and consumers may face pressure from decisions driven by S&P 500 rankings. The shift from Cook’s tenure—where performance conditions were added later—suggests a more metrics-focused era, which could affect Apple’s strategic risk-taking and long-term innovation priorities.