Apple Home To 4 Out 5 Highest-Paid Execs In US

It's well aware that Apple has a lot of money on hand, and all that hard work from the company's big wigs isn't going unnoticed. It turns out that four out of the top five highest-paid executives in the US work at Apple, with a base salary of $805,400 each. However, that's all paid in stock options, which means they each make way more than 800 grand a year.

According to fiscal 2012 compensation figures for top earners filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Apple's Bob Mansfield (Senior VP of Technologies), Bruce Sewell (lead lawyer), Jeffrey Williams (Senior VP of Operations), and Peter Oppenheimer (Chief Financial Officer) all make the top five, with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison rounding out the top five.

Bob Mansfield brings home the most bacon with $85.5 million in 2012, while Sewell earned $69 million, Williams at $68.7 million, Oppenheimer netting $68.6 million. Oracle's Ellison leads the way at $96.2 million. What about Apple CEO Tim Cook? He's on the list at #1,016 with $4.17 million package, but his stock options are long-term, meaning that they're spread out over a decade, so those aren't included with these numbers.

So how come Apple pays these guys so much money? It turns out the answer is pretty obvious: Apple wants these guys to stay for the long haul. The salary packages are designed to prevent executives from taking job offers at other competing companies. Of course, it may not have worked for other companies in the past, but it's working for Apple so far.

[via Bloomberg Businessweek]