# Would you willingly cut your own salary by 40%?

**Published by:** [Durwin](https://paragraph.com/@durwin/)
**Published on:** 2023-01-19
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@durwin/would-you-willingly-cut-your-own-salary-by-40

## Content

Tim Cook, one of the most powerful CEOs in the world, willingly cuts his salary by 40%.Tim Cook voluntarily took a 40% pay cut in 2022. Initially, I thought I read the headlines wrongly. What shocked me was not the 40% but the objective amount of money. “The world’s largest tech company said it would reduce Cook’s target pay package to $49 million, 40% lower than his target pay for 2022 and about half Cook’s $99.4 million total compensation that he was granted last year.” I know what most of y’all would be thinking. He is already so wealthy. How would 40% be painful to him? Apple is swimming in cash (literally), so why would it matter? But hold up. 40% of Tim’s total compensation is $49M. That’s the entire yearly revenue for a lot of small-medium businesses in Asia.With a salary of $3M, Tim isn’t the highest paid CEO, till you start counting bonuses and stock compensation.That’s about the average valuation of a startup raising its series A. First off, let me unequivocally declare this: 40% cut of anything is painful. Doesn’t matter if you make $10,000 a year or $100M. 40% pay cut hurts like a bitch. So objectively, it is painful and I respect Tim for making that decision. So why would the CEO of Apple take such drastic pay cut? Apparently, Apple’s stock fell 27% last year. That’s it. They completely ignored other facts like: In 2021, Apple generated $192 billion in revenue from the sales of iPhones, an increase of nearly 40% as compared to the revenue of $137 billion in 2020. Apple made $378.32B in revenue in 2021.Hate it or love it, Apple products are very expensive, and they sell like hotcakes globally.Apple was the most profitable company on the Fortune 500 list last year. They shipped over 57 million iPads and 58 million AirPods. Sometimes, I really don’t know how the stakeholders think. So what Apple’s stocks dipped a little? They are literally still one of the top companies and brand in the world. Entire markets and industries crashed in 2021, companies burnt to the ground and millions lost their jobs. Apple is still crushing it with the hundreds of millions of products they sold globally. Sure the iPhone 14 had incremental differences compared to the iPhone 13, but PEOPLE STILL BOUGHT IT!Apple has been one of the companies least affected by the bear market. It is indeed strange that Tim is taking a pay cut as if he did something horribly wrong. It is even more amazing to know that he was the one who requested it. “But shareholders voted against Cook’s pay package after Apple’s stock fell nearly 27% last year. The vote is nonbinding, but the board’s compensation committee said Cook requested the reduction.” It is strange how public companies and CEO’s salaries work. Anyways, Tim Cook is estimated to be worth $1.7B. $49M less is not going to move the needle anyways. =) - Would you ever consider taking a pay cut of 40%? - #startups #business #startupx #growth #success #socialmedia #culture #entrepreneurship #strategy #eth #btc #crypto #timcook #apple #revenue #ipad #iphone #ceosalary

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