There’s no indication that Apple was in a bidding war over Tim Cook’s talents. Nor is there much indication that Apple set a price it was willing to pay for a CEO and then actively sought out the strongest candidate willing to take the position for the money on offer. Rather, it was decided (seemingly some time ago during one of Steve Jobs’ medical leaves) that Cook was the annointed successor and then a basically unrelated process determined that this should be his compensation package. And the thinking behind it largely seems to be that a great big rich company deserves to have a great big rich CEO, so here’s a generous offer.
Matthew Yglesias, “Tim Cook’s Payday”
(via Ezra Klein)
Related: “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory”, from This American Life.
