Apple’s new retail chief Angela Ahrendts in $68m signing bonus
BURBERRY’S former chief executive Angela Ahrendts started her new role as the head of retail at Apple yesterday, receiving a share award from the American tech giant worth $68m (£40m).
Ahrendts’ award of 113,334 restricted shares coincided with Apple’s share price pushing past $600 yesterday morning for the first time since October 2012. However, when the markets closed last night, Apple’s shares had fallen back $6.55 to $594.41 – a drop of 1.09 per cent.
While much of her award is restricted, the first tranche will vest on 1 June and is worth around $9.8m based on yesterday’s stock price. Some 85 per cent of the total award will be available to her after four years with the total amount available by the end of 2018.
Ahrendts left Burberry after eight years, having led the luxury fashion retailer through a period of outstanding global growth, leaving chief creative officer Christopher Bailey to take her place.
Apple, which has 423 stores in 15 countries, has been searching for a new senior vice-president of its retail and online stores since 2012, when Ahrendts’ predecessor John Browett left the company after just six months in one of the tech giants biggest management reshuffles.