- Associated Press - Friday, January 7, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) - Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs’ compensation package remained the usual $1 in fiscal 2010, but the value of the shares he owns has skyrocketed amid the company’s ongoing success with introducing shiny new gadgets many people come to find indispensible.

Apple said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday it paid a salary of $1 to Jobs, who rejoined the company in 1997 and has overseen the company’s explosive growth following the launch of the iPod, the iPhone and now the iPad.

As is customary, Jobs got no bonus or perks during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 25, 2010. Apple said it reimbursed Jobs $248,000 for company travel on his personal jet, a $90 million Gulfstream V he received as a bonus in 1999. This is well above the $4,000 Apple reimbursed its CEO in 2009, when Jobs was on medical leave for nearly six months.

Jobs, however, holds 5.5 million of Apple’s shares, which gained about 60 percent in value during the fiscal year and have continued to rise since. Apple’s shares closed at $333.73 on Thursday, bringing the value of Jobs’ personal holdings to $1.84 billion.

The company’s net income jumped 70 percent in fiscal 2010 to $14 billion, on revenue of $65.2 billion, an increase of 52 percent from a year earlier thanks to strong demand for its personal gadgets and Mac computers.

Jobs, 55, has not sold any shares since he rejoined the company in 1997 following a 12-year hiatus. He has not been awarded any new equity since 2003 and is currently its largest individual shareholder. His annual salary has been $1 since 1998.

Top Apple executives, including Jobs, are employed at will, without severance or employment agreements, tax reimbursements or supplemental retirement benefits. The company also does not provide perks to the executives other than those available to non-executive employees, according to the filing.

Apple’s chief operating officer, Tim Cook, however, received a special $5 million bonus and restricted stock award in 2010 for what Apple called his “outstanding performance” during Jobs’ medical leave in the first half of 2009, when he took over his day-to-day duties.

Only Jobs gets the $1 salary. But the compensation for Cook, who essentially makes the trains run on time at Apple, is set higher than other top executives to reflect his additional duties as COO. In 2010, this amounted to $59.1 million including the special bonus and restricted stock, based on the Associated Press’ calculation.

The Associated Press compensation calculation includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

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