NEWS: Apple boss Tim Cook will pocket £350m if he stays in job for 6 years

iPopping salary: Tim Cook

The boss of tech giant Apple could be in for an iPopping £350million windfall – if he can wait six years.

Tim Cook was handed two bumper shares awards when he replaced Steve Jobs as chief executive in 2011, and a surge in Apple’s share price has sent his stake rocketing in value to £356million.

But there is a catch. To get his hands on the shares, Cook, 54, must remain in charge until 2021 and Apple has to hit tough performance targets.

However, the company is expected to announce record sales of its latest iPhone range next week, ahead of the launch of its Apple Watch in March.

And it is unlikely Cook – who joined Apple in 1998 – will struggle before the payout, as the firm’s annual report has revealed his pay and perks package more than doubled to £6.1million last year.

It included his £1.3million salary, £467,000 towards his security expenses and £37,950 for unused holiday allowance.

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              Getty Headhunted: Angela Ahrendts 

Apple said it “traditionally believed that long-term equity awards are the most effective way to attract and retain a talented executive team”. And Cook was not the only Apple chief to receive a hefty package. Accounts show Angela Ahrendts, 54 – poached from Burberry last May – was the firm’s highest-paid executive last year, taking home £48.7million.

Most of that was in the form of shares, including £24million in Apple stock to compensate the high flyer for the bonuses she sacrificed when leaving Burberry.

Apple said the golden hello was used to “encourage Ms Ahrendts to join and to provide a meaningful equity stake”.

But Deborah Hargreaves, director of the High Pay Centre think tank, said: “These sort of awards make you far removed from the rest of society.

“Executives have a vested personal interest in driving up the share price. But it has got out of hand because shareholders aren’t the only ones who matter – so do suppliers, employees and customers.”

BBC’s Panorama programme last month claimed California-based Apple mistreated workers in its supply chains but the firm said it was “deeply offended” by the allegations.

Its £466billion stock market value makes it the world’s most valuable firm.

www.mirror.co.uk