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Tim Cook may have steered Apple to become the first company worth $4 trillion, but when it comes to disclosed CEO compensation for 2024, he ranks seventh in the United States. Here’s a clear look at where Cook stands, who earned more, and why these rankings can be tricky to read.
Who earned more than Tim Cook in 2024?
Fortune and other reporting outlets compiled executive pay data disclosed by public companies for 2024. According to those filings, these CEOs reported the highest total compensation:
- Rick Smith, Axon — $164.5 million
- Jim Anderson, Coherent — $101.5 million
- Brian Niccol, Starbucks — $95.8 million
- Larry Culp, GE Aerospace — $87.5 million
- Michael Aroughety, Ares Management — $85.4 million
- Satya Nadella, Microsoft — $79.1 million
- Tim Cook, Apple — $74.6 million
These numbers are approximate and come from companies required to disclose executive pay. Some high-profile leaders who don’t take a standard annual salary — for example, executives with complex, performance-based pay structures — may not appear in the same way on these lists.
Why comparing CEO pay is complicated
At first glance, the rankings look straightforward. But several factors make direct comparisons misleading:
- Disclosure rules: Only companies required to publicly report executive compensation appear in the same dataset.
- Pay structure: Total compensation often includes stock awards, long-term incentives, bonuses, and retirement benefits — items tied to long performance cycles.
- One-off awards: A single large equity grant or a special retention package can inflate a CEO’s reported pay for that year.
- Different business cycles: Company performance, merger activity, or strategic milestones affect the timing and size of payouts.
So when you see a CEO near the top of a pay list, it may reflect a specific payout event rather than steady, comparable annual income.
Tim Cook’s pay history and the 40% cut
Cook’s disclosed compensation was $74.6 million in 2024. By comparison, his reported total for 2022 was roughly $99.4 million. After public criticism of his prior pay package, Cook asked Apple to reduce his 2023 compensation by about 40 percent. That move highlighted how optics and stakeholder sentiment can influence executive pay decisions as much as raw financial metrics.
To put his 2024 pay in perspective: it amounts to roughly 4,947 times the annual U.S. minimum wage, a stark illustration of the gap between top executive pay and typical worker earnings.
What to watch next
CEO compensation will continue to be a hot topic—especially as investors, employees, and the public scrutinize how pay aligns with performance, corporate governance, and social expectations. Expect future lists to shift as companies grant long-term equity, respond to shareholder votes, or restructure executive packages.
Questions about fairness, transparency, and incentive design will shape reporting and the headlines. For now, Tim Cook remains a high earner among U.S. CEOs, even as several executives reported larger disclosed pay packages in 2024.
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