During his tenure as a member of Apple's board of directors, Google CEO Eric Schmidt refused the options and yearly stipend given to Apple directors. BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl dug through Apple's SEC filings to look at Mr. Schmidt's compensation as an Apple board member, and found that he had turned down the 30,000 options initially granted to directors, as well as the US$50,000 fee they received over the course of the year.
Mr. Schmidt instead chose to buy 10,000 shares on the open market at roughly $74 a share in September of 2006 (cost, $740,000), shares which were worth some $1,655,100 at the market's close on Friday.
During his three years as an Apple board member, Mr. Schmidt did accept some $8,712 worth of Apple gear in fiscal 2008. Apple board members are allowed one of each new product introduced by the company, with additional product available at a discount. In addition, he received a "commemorative gift" with a value placed on that gift at $7,580 in Apple's filings.
Mr. Schmidt has taken a similar approach in his gig at Google, where he receives $1 per year in salary, a model which was first taken by Apple CEO Steve Jobs when he officially returned to the helm of Apple in 1997. Mr. Schmidt has also turned down stock option grants at Google in recent years.