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John Ternus Becomes Apple CEO as SEC Filing Sets $58 Million Target Pay

Most of Ternus’s award hinges on Apple’s shareholder returns versus the S&P 500, signaling near-term pressure to show progress on AI and product plans.

Overview

  • Apple updated its leadership page to show John Ternus as CEO and filed amended SEC disclosures on September 1 that detail his fiscal‑2027 target compensation at about $58 million.
  • Ternus’s package includes a $3 million annual salary, a $55 million annual equity award, and a one‑time prorated RSU grant worth about $2.5 million for partial fiscal‑2026 service.
  • Roughly 75% of Ternus’s FY27 equity award is performance‑based RSUs that vest according to Apple’s total shareholder return versus the S&P 500 while the remaining 25% are time‑based RSUs that vest over four years.
  • Tim Cook moves to executive chair with a reduced $2 million salary and a fiscal‑2027 equity award targeting about $45 million that splits evenly between performance‑based and time‑based RSUs.
  • The pay filing comes as Ternus faces immediate tests — investor scrutiny of Apple’s AI roadmap, supply‑chain and chip capacity issues, and a high‑profile product event scheduled for September 9 — after Cook’s 15‑year run that grew Apple’s market value from roughly $347 billion to over $4 trillion.