Apple CEO Tim Cook has sold $57.8 million USD of shares following a performance award as the company’s market valuation has exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.
Just weeks after Apple became the first US company to break the $1 trillion USD valuation milestone, Cook was awarded 560,000 shares by the iPhone maker last Friday, worth a total of roughly $121 million USD, before tax.
According to a new report from the Financial Times, the stock vesting ranked among the biggest in years. Cook received stock worth $89 million USD last year and $136 million in 2016 after he passed his fifth anniversary as CEO.
Now, according to a recent SEC filing, Cook this week sold more than 265,000 of those shares at prices ranging from $216.96 USD to $218.54, netting him nearly $57.8 million. The remaining 294,840 shares worth more than $63 million USD were withheld by Apple for taxes.
Mr. Cook is on track to receive an additional 560,000 shares every year for the next three years is he continues in his position as Apple CEO and Apple’s shareholder return continues to be in the top third of companies in the S&P 500.
Apple’s total shareholder returns ranked 50th out of the 423 companies in the S&P 500, at almost 90 percent over the three years. The iPhone maker’s market capitalization surpassed $1 trillion USD earlier this month, beating rivals such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet to hit the landmark valuation. Shares touched a new all-time high of $220.54 USD in intraday trading on Tuesday.
