Apple CEO Tim Cook takes 7 hours to out-earn the average American’s salary

Apple CEO Tim Cook
Some of America’s highest-paid CEOs earn more in a few hours than the typical U.S. worker makes in an entire year. For example, Apple CEO Tim Cook surpasses the annual salary of an average American worker in roughly seven hours.
Emma Burleigh for Fortune:
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And even though he’s one of the highest-paid chief executives in the world today, his current paycheck is a far cry from what he once earned. In 2022, Cook received nearly $100 million, largely due to stock awards, but his pay dropped the next year following backlash from Apple staffers and shareholders.
And when compared to the paycheck of everyday Americans, the difference is severe. With his $74.6 million package, it only takes around seven hours for Cook to out-earn the typical U.S. worker — who takes home just $62,088 a year, according to 2025 first quarter wage data from the BLS.
Within the 30 minutes it takes most people to commute to the office, Cook is already $4,256 richer—more than what most Americans have set aside as emergency savings… It only takes 2.15 days for Cook to pool up $439,000 in earnings, the median price of a U.S. home, according to a new CEO salary tool from Resume.io.
In just over 21 minutes, Cook has made enough to buy a $3,000 MacBook Pro; and in less than eight minutes, he can score an $1,100 iPhone Pro 17.

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MacDailyNews Take: Can’t see what’s coming except for fat checks and endless stock awards. $74.6 million per year.
Actually, though, seven hours seems too long — that’s like almost a whole workday for a nine-fiver — but, hey, math is math!
Yes, executive compensation is out of whack. Tim Cook is vastly overpaid for what he does. This is because he holds a rare skillset and it benefits the shareholders to have continuity in the CEO position. Basically, Apple overpays Tim Cook in order to have a long-term CEO which provides confidence to the market. A succession of different CEOs jumping from company to company every other year seeking higher salaries would be a negative and justifies Cook’s overpayment. Cook is paid to stay more than for what he actually does. This is why he has vesting targets set years into the future. If he stays, providing continuity, he benefits and so does the company’s stock price. — MacDailyNews, February 18, 2022
See also: Apple CEO Tim Cook among the most overpaid CEOs, study finds – February 17, 2023

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