Apple chief Tim Cook picks up his biggest annual bonus to date

Apple chief executive Tim Cook was awarded his largest ever bonus in September last year, just before the tech giant's most stellar year to date took a turn for the worse.

Apple said in a regulatory filing yesterday that Cook had been given a cash bonus of $12m (£9.4m) at the end of its fiscal year, the maximum amount available. This was in addition to an annual salary of $3m, shares worth approximately $121m which were due this year from a stock award in 2011, and other compensation of $682,219. 

This made Cook's total intake for his services in Apple's last fiscal year an eye-watering $136.7m.

Four other executives, including Apple's finance chief Luca Maestri and its senior retail vice president Angela Ahrendts, were each paid $1m in salaries and bonuses of about $4m. 

Cook took over as Apple's chief executive from its founder Steve Jobs in 2011, and was granted a 10-year stock plan as part of his handover package. Two years later, Cook requested that those shares, which were valued at $367m, be tied to Apple's performance.

In order for the Apple boss to receive the next instalment of his shares, the company must outperform two thirds of the S&P 500 annually, alongside other performance measures. However as Apple issued a rare cut to revenue forecasts last week, that future may be in the balance.

In an open letter to investors, Apple cut its revenue forecast for the busy Christmas quarter by 7.8 per cent. The tech giant is now anticipating revenue of $84bn (£66.8bn) for the final three months of 2018, down five per cent from the same period in 2017 and $9bn lower than Apple's original highest forecast for the quarter.

Apple's share price is down approximately 12 per cent to date from its peak in 2018.