Featured Article: Analyst: Apple to Sell 11M iPhones in 2008, 17M in 2009
Steve Jobs Highest Paid Bay Area Executive in 2003, Study Says
by , 6:45 PM EST, December 28th, 2004
Steve Jobs' compensation package for 2003 is once again making headlines. According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, Equilar, a San Francisco-based firm offering consulting and analysis of corporate governance, has published a study of executive compensation in the Bay Area. At the head of that list was Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, who received a stock grant of 5 million restricted shares in exchange for 27.5 million underwater options he had garnered over the previous several years.
Equilar puts the value on those shares at the time of the granting at approximately US$74.5 million, making the iCEO top dog in the Bay Area for 2003.
AAPL closed at $64.18 today, making those shares worth $320.9 million.
Mr. Jobs' compensation for 2003 has continually attracted the spotlight of those interested in covering what many see as modern excess in CEO compensation. David Lewin, a professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, told the Chronicle that nationwide, CEOs earn about 500 times what rank and file workers make, some 10 times the gap of 35 years ago.
It's that gap that has many shareholder activists and others agitating for reform in corporate governance. Apple's board has specifically come under fire as not being tough enough, criticism that led to some changes at Apple in recent years.
The full picture
Many people have held up Mr. Jobs as the poster child for such corporate governance excess based on his stock grant, though the full picture is slightly different. While Mr. Jobs did receive that massive grant, and he also was given a jet worth some $84 million, this is the only compensation Mr. Jobs has received from Apple since returning to the helm of the company in 1997.
In addition, Mr. Jobs' grant vests over three years, meaning that they do not become fully his until March of 2006. That moves his total compensation for 10 years of service to Apple to approximately $158.8 million, or $15.9 million per year.
That's still enough to qualify him as one of the highest paid executives in the country, though it would place him much farther down the list of any single year than singling out 2003 would indicate. Most of the coverage this issue has received has neglected to consider all of these factors.
The other four of the top five highest paid Bay Area executives in 2003, according to Equilar, were Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers ($47.7 million), eBay CEO Meg Whitman ($42.6 million), Intuit CEO Stephen Bennett ($29.9 million) and former PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway ($26.9 million).
Genentech and eBay both had five executives in the top 100, while Gilead Sciences, Oracle, PeopleSoft and Veritas Software each had four of its executive team in the top 100.
There is additional information in the full story at the Chronicle, including a close look at Steve Jobs' friend and confidante Larry Ellison. Mr. Ellison did not make the 2003 list as he received zero compensation, but did earn more than $10 million in 2004.
Observer Comments
Tue Dec 28, 2004 8:31 pm Subject: Why Does A Billionaire Need $75 Million More?
Tue Dec 28, 2004 10:47 pm Subject:
Steve Jobs was paid $1 in 2003. His "high compensation" came from turning in all of his previously granted options for a restricted stock grant.
If one were to take all of the compensation paid to Steve Jobs since his return to Apple (including the much-discussed jet) and the value of the restricted stock grant and average the total over the nine years since his return, one will find other Silicon Valley executives have indeed been paid far more in terms of total compensation.
Remember, Steve Jobs traded in all of his previously granted options reversing what had been reported as income in prior years.
Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:25 am Subject: Reposting MacGravy's Post
QuoteDawnTreader wrote:
Steve Jobs was paid $1 in 2003. His "high compensation" came from turning in all of his previously granted options for a restricted stock grant.
If one were to take all of the compensation paid to Steve Jobs since his return to Apple (including the much-discussed jet) and the value of the restricted stock grant and average the total over the nine years since his return, one will find other Silicon Valley executives have indeed been paid far more in terms of total compensation.
Remember, Steve Jobs traded in all of his previously granted options reversing what had been reported as income in prior years.
Didn't I say all that in the news article? If not, I meant to.
Bryan
Editor
TMO
Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:49 pm Subject: Re: Reposting MacGravy's Post
QuoteBryan wrote:QuoteDawnTreader wrote:
Steve Jobs was paid $1 in 2003. His "high compensation" came from turning in all of his previously granted options for a restricted stock grant.
If one were to take all of the compensation paid to Steve Jobs since his return to Apple (including the much-discussed jet) and the value of the restricted stock grant and average the total over the nine years since his return, one will find other Silicon Valley executives have indeed been paid far more in terms of total compensation.
Remember, Steve Jobs traded in all of his previously granted options reversing what had been reported as income in prior years.
Didn't I say all that in the news article? If not, I meant to.
Bryan
Editor
TMO
Yeah. But this is a story that just keeps coming back again and again and again...
It's amazing how many different times (or number of tax years) the jet has been counted and how poorly this "story" is constantly reported (TMO coverage excluded).
Recent Headlines - Updated Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
- Tue., 5:00 PM
- iPodObserver - CW: AT&T's 3G Network Leaves Verizon, Sprint in the Dust
- 4:00 PM
- Montage 1.5 Gets New Styles System, Scene Navigation Enhancements
- 3:45 PM
- RIM's Empire Strikes Back at Apple
- 3:00 PM
- C|Net: Remote Possibilities for Apple
- 2:55 PM
- Mac Gaming News - World of Warcraft Patched to 2.4.2 - Class Changes, Mac Fixes
- 2:20 PM
- Apple Publishes Details on WWDC Keynote
- 1:40 PM
- Office 2008 for Mac Sales Soaring
- 11:50 AM
- Apple Gives Retail Store Site a New Look
- 11:10 AM
- Mac Gaming News - Friction Games Ships Penumbra: Black Plague
- 10:40 AM
- Hot Forum Topic - The Mighty-dirty Mouse
- 10:05 AM
- Adobe Updates DNG Specification with Camera Profiles
- 9:35 AM
- iPodObserver - HBO Joins iTunes with Two-tier Pricing
- 8:35 AM
- Apple Rolls Out "New Get a Mac" Ads
- 8:10 AM
- PageSender 4.3 Enhances Menu Options, More
- 7:40 AM
- Podcast - Apple Weekly Report #125: iPhone Expansion, NBC and Zune, Apple's Eco-stance
- 3:10 AM
- MS Office 2008 SP1 Improves Stability, Security, More
- 3:05 AM
- Microsoft Says Visual Basic Returning to Office
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
- Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
- Other World Computing: OWC Mercury Elite FW800/FW400/USB2/eSATA TOP-RATED Solutions offer High Performance, Reliable storage for all your data storage needs. Industry leading 2yr limited + up to 5yr HD Mechanism Warranty too! Up to 2.0TB(2000GB), 500GB specials from $199.99
NEW MacPro Memory 800Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB Kit $104 / 4GB Kit $184 / 8GB Kit $362 Click to Maximize your Macs...
Mac observers can now play Party Poker for Mac as well as Mac casino games by going to MacPokerOnline.com.For the latest Apple products use Ciao a comparison website to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate cell phones.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Pink EasyShare M863 8.2 MP Digital Camera: $127.49 Delivered 
Canon FS100 SD/SDHC Card Camcorder: $359.99 Delivered 
Sony 16 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player with Built-in Bluetooth: $269.95 Delivered 
Targus Laser Wireless Desktop Mouse: $25.19 Delivered 
Hitachi 160GB IDE Hard Drive & 3.5" Enclosure Combo: $71.99 Delivered 
