Former Stanford professor makes $1.7M as Apple University faculty, court filings reveal

In the suit, Phills claims Stanford Dean Garth Saloner fostered a hostile work environment by allegedly having an affair with his former wife, who also works at the business school, reports the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

According to Poets & Quants, a publication focusing on business schools, court filings show Phills went on unpaid leave in May 2012 to pursue a job at Apple University. Stanford found no merit in Phills' claims against Saloner and subsequently demanded he return to teaching duties in 2014, but the professor declined.

Divorce filings show Phills brought in around $769,000 when he first started at Apple, a huge increase over his salary at Stanford. Exact figures were not divulged, but when they were together, Phills and his wife earned a combined annual income that topped out at $593,000. Phills' salary at Apple grew to $1.2 million in 2013 and last year reached $1.7 million.

Following the Apple University trail on LinkedIn, the Silicon Valley Business Journal found a few new faculty members including former head of iTunes marketing Chris Bell, former senior organizational development consultant Mike Asercion and former senior human resources director Tami Rosen.

Headed by Joel Podolny, former dean of Yale University's School of Management, Apple University was established under the guidance of Steve Jobs in 2008 as a comprehensive program to instill "Apple culture" into its students. Faculty members come from the tech industry, academia and beyond, with some poached away from storied institutions like Yale, Harvard, the UC Berkeley and M.I.T.