Highest Paid US CEOs In 2011: Apple's Tim Cook Tops The List

Apple paid hundreds of millions as compensation to its chief executive officer Tim Cook in 2011, making him the highest paid CEO in the United States, revealed a Wall Street Journal annual survey on Monday.

According to the survey report, the total amount of annual pay package that Cook received from Apple in 2011 was $378 million. However, Cook's base salary was $900,000, along with $900,000 more for his annual incentives, which add up to $1.80 million only. So where does the cash pile of $378 million come from, putting him over $300 million above the next top-paid CEO in the US?

Cook, who was appointed Apple chief executive, two months before Steve Jobs' death, scooped up as many as $376.18 million, thanks to a grant of one million shares of restricted stock. The amount was based on Apple's stock price at the time.

Cook's 2011 compensation worth $378 million is the highest recorded in the history of The Wall Street Journal's annual CEO pay survey since at least 2006.

However, as The Verge noted, there are a couple of catches. The report said that Cook might not be riding quite so high on the list next time since Apple considers the share package compensation for the next 10 years. In addition, the share package also has a set of restrictions that impose limitations on Cook for selling his shares. He can sell half of them for the next five years and then rest until 2021.

With people in and around the technology industry dominating the top positions in the list, Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison occupied the second spot with $76.01 million in annual incentives and stocks options, which was less than a fifth of Cook's earning.

Television broadcaster CBS head Leslie Moonves stood third at $69.32 million, followed by J.C. Penny chief executive Ronald Johnson at $53.27 million and Motorola Mobility chief Sanjay Jha at $46.59 million, rounding off the top five.

The study, conducted by management consulting firm Hay Group, analyzes the pay of the CEOs from the 300 largest US public companies by revenue that filed their definitive proxy statements between May 1, 2011, and April 30, 2012.

Start the slideshow to know who else made it to the top 10 list of the highest paid US CEO in 2011.