Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Net Worth Surpasses $1 Billion, But He's 'Poor' Compared To Some Tech Peers

As Apple (AAPL) approaches a $2 trillion market cap, its chief executive Tim Cook has seen his net worth surpass $1 billion, according to an estimate by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

But unlike some of his megarich peers, Cook's wealth is primarily generated from equity awards he’s received since joining the company more than 20 years ago.

On his first day as CEO, Cook received a large number of restricted shares. He has been granted annual increments in equity, partly contingent on Apple stock outperforming at least two-thirds of companies in the S&P 500.

Bloomberg reported that Cook currently owns 847,969 shares directly, or about 0.02% of Apple shares outstanding, worth about $375 million.

Cook’s compensation was also be enriched by another $650 million through share sales, dividends and other compensation.

Unless Apple shares suddenly plunge, Cook is scheduled to receive another 560,000 shares in late August.

At Apple’s current share price of about $451, that stock grant would be valued at about $253 million – although half of this amount will likely be withheld for tax purposes.

In 2015, Cook said he will eventually give away most of his fortune to charities.

Cook, 59, has carried his predecessor Steve Jobs’ legacy to even greater heights. Bloomberg reported that when Jobs died nine years ago, the company had a market cap of about $350 billion.

“This tech cycle has been way bigger and longer than I thought,” said Hussein Kanji, a partner at venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures. “Out of all these stocks, Apple has become the greatest cash generation machine in history.”

However, as tech companies have become enormous in size and influence, Cook, along with his peers like Jeff Bezos of Amazon (AMZN), Sundar Pichai of Google parent Alphabet (GOOG) and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook (FB) – have faced criticism over their companies’ alleged antitrust practices.

Cook’s stake in Apple is very small compared to Bezos and Zuckerberg.

AppleInsider reported that in 2019, Cook ranked as the second-highest paid U.S. chief executives, after Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.

However, Cook’s net worth pales in comparision to the huge fortunes amassed by some other corporate giants.

The latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index indicated that Bezos has a net worth of $187 billion – putting him at the very top – followed by Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates at $121 billion and Zuckerberg at $102 billion.