Tim Cook makes $16 million from selling Apple shares

Apple CEO Tim Cook has sold shares in his company worth about $33 million, and received just under half that after tax.

As detailed in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cook sold 196,410 shares, and did so in multiple batches. Based on stated prices received per share, Cook earned between $33.04 million and $33.23 million before taxes.

The sums are a fraction of the estimated $355 million he made selling five million shares in 2021. It's also not as much as the last time he sold shares, when he got around $41.5 million in October 2023.

That 2023 sale came at time when Apple's stock was trading lower than usual, and that's also what is happening now. Apple's stock has dropped sufficiently since its all-time high in December 2023 that firms such as Loop Capital have been advising against buying Apple shares lately.

Few analysts, though, have recommended actively selling them, because there are positive signs of recovery.

However, as first spotted by MacRumors, the SEC filing notes that the sale "was made pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted by the reporting person on November 28, 2022."

So Cook has a trading plan. While the details Cook has decided on are not known, this means that his shares will automatically be put up for sale when certain conditions are met.

There are insider trading laws governing how company executives can or can't sell shares in their firms, but Cook still has the option to sell outside of his predetermined plan. This is what he did in 2021, when he received five million shares as the last part of his original 2011 contract for taking on the role of CEO.

Aside from that major sale, and smaller ones that appear to have been triggered automatically by his trading plan, Cook has generally held on to his Apple shares. He did so throughout 2022, for instance, when many other Apple executives cashed some in.

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9 Comments

carnegie 1078 comments · 10 Years

About 3 weeks ago

AppleInsider said:

Apple CEO Tim Cook has sold shares in his company worth about $33 million, and received just under half that after tax.

As detailed in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cook sold 196,410 shares, and did so in multiple batches. Based on stated prices received per share, Cook earned between $33.04 million and $33.23 million before taxes.

The sums are a fraction of the estimated $355 million he made selling five million shares in 2021. It's also not as much as the last time he sold shares, when he got around $41.5 million in October 2023.

That 2023 sale came at time when Apple's stock was trading lower than usual, and that's also what is happening now. Apple's stock has dropped sufficiently since its all-time high in December 2023 that firms such as Loop Capital have been advising against buying Apple shares lately.

Few analysts, though, have recommended actively selling them, because there are positive signs of recovery.

However, as first spotted by MacRumors, the SEC filing notes that the sale "was made pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted by the reporting person on November 28, 2022."

So Cook has a trading plan. While the details Cook has decided on are not known, this means that his shares will automatically be put up for sale when certain conditions are met.

There are insider trading laws governing how company executives can or can't sell shares in their firms, but Cook still has the option to sell outside of his predetermined plan. This is what he did in 2021, when he received five million shares as the last part of his original 2011 contract for taking on the role of CEO.

Aside from that major sale, and smaller ones that appear to have been triggered automatically by his trading plan, Cook has generally held on to his Apple shares. He did so throughout 2022, for instance, when many other Apple executives cashed some in.
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Mr. Cook only sold around $16-1/2 million worth of shares - about 97.2 million of the 196.4 million which just vested. The rest of the vesting shares were withheld by Apple. In these circumstances Apple doesn’t anctually issue those shares. Rather, it submits their value based on the vesting share price to various tax authorities to meet withholding requirements.

I’d also point out that the main reason Mr. Cook didn’t sell shares in 2022 is that he didn’t have any shares vest in 2022. He generally, though not always, sells new shares when they vest. The general timing of his share sales are fairly predictable.