Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 03:15 am

Apple CEO Tim Cook nets $11.1M from vested second half of 2010 bonus

By Josh Ong

Apple chief Tim Cook made $11.1 million after taxes by selling 37,500 restricted stock units that were awarded to him two years ago for his performance as interim CEO while late co-founder Steve Jobs was on medical leave.

An SEC filing revealed that Cook had sold the 37,500 shares on Monday as part of a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan that lets major shareholders of companies set up scheduled trades to avoid accusations of insider trading.

Cook's shares vested last Saturday after a two year waiting period. In March 2010, the executive was awarded 75,000 restricted stock units "in recognition of his outstanding performance in assuming the day-to-day operations" of Apple while Jobs was on medical leave to recover from a liver transplant. When the first half of the shares vested last March, Cook immediately sold off the batch, netting $7.02 million after taxes.

This year, Cook's tax bill for the second half of the shares came out to $9.44 million. He opted to pay by surrendering 17,322 shares at a stock price of $545.17. His profit of $11.1 million came from a series of five staggered sales throughout the day on Monday, a day that happened to see a new all-time high for Apple's stock. Shares of the company closed at $552 on Monday.

Cook was named Apple's CEO last August after Jobs resigned because of health issues. The company's board awarded him a million restricted shares that will vest over the next decade, subject to his continued employment at Apple.