Apple Finance Chief Received the Highest Compensation of Any CFO in 2012

Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer was rewarded for increasing profit, amassing cash and minimizing taxes for 2012 with a $68.6 million package, according to data compiled by Adam Satariano and Brian Womack of Bloomberg. Another $4.17 million went to Tim Cook, the company’s CEO.

Peter Oppenheimer, who has been in charge of Apple’s cash strategy since 2004, when he took the CFO position, has enabled Apple to pay a tax rate of 25.2% in the 2012 fiscal year. This means the company has initiated one of the highest federal income tax payment — $6 billion — but it also finished the 2012 fiscal year with $121.3 billion in cash and longer-term investments. This amount includes $83 billion outside the US, according to Steve Downling, an Apple spokesman.

Also, it was Oppenheimer who orchestrated Apple’s biggest bond sale in April — $17 billion — to obtain funding for the company’s $100 billion dividend and buyback plan. As a result, Apple has avoided $9.2 billion in US taxes.

The data compiled by Bloomberg, also highlights that ten of the best-paid CFOs for last year work in the technology industry. This however, doesn’t come as a surprise, as data filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission submitted by the S&P 500 companies already pointed to Apple and other tech companies having the highest-paid executives.