Recently, Tim Cook is dignified to hit pay dirt - again. This week, the Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer will collect the tenth and final tranche of the pay deal he acknowledged a period ago after he took over the top job from co-founder Steve Jobs.
The tow involves about five million shares worth roughly $750 million. Part of the pay-out is dependent on Apple's stock return over the past three years outstanding at least two-thirds of companies in the S&P 500 - a threshold the iPhone maker cleared by a wide margin.
Apple's mounting stock price has allowed Cook, 60, to collect top payouts year after year and made him a billionaire. He currently has a net worth of about $1.5 billion.
When he prospered Steve 10 years ago, some spectators suspected that the technocratic Cook could match his precursor's star power and continue Apple's successful streak. But on his watch, the company's revenue has more than doubled and its shares returned more than 1,100 percent, pushing the market value above $2 trillion.
The Apple executive said in 2015 that he plans to give most of his fortune away and has already donated millions of dollars worth of Apple shares.