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.

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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.

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