Norway’s sovereign wealth fund (NBIM), which holds a 1 percent stake in Apple, says it will downvote the company’s 2022 plans for executive compensation including CEO Tim Cook.
The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund is voting against Apple’s pay policies, including $99mn in salary and bonuses for chief executive Tim Cook, part of a growing shareholder backlash against remuneration at the tech giant.
Norway’s $1.3tn oil fund disclosed on Sunday that it would vote against the world’s most valuable company on pay, as well as shareholder proposals on transparency, forced labour, a civil rights audit and sustainability disclosures, according to its voting intention filed five days before Apple’s annual meeting.
According to an NBIM statement, the group will follow the advice of shareholder advisory group ISS, which stated recently that shareholders should downvote Apple’s executive compensation proposals for 2022 because of serious concerns about how much money Tim Cook was earning, and because of some private perks such as security and use of a private jet. The group said it wanted “transparency on total remuneration to avoid unacceptable outcomes” and that the board “should ensure that all benefits have a clear business rationale.”
Earlier in February the Institutional Shareholder Services group said there was a “significant concern” about the stock award CEO Tim Cook received in 2021, which represented some $82M of the $99M he received last year.
The group last recommended such a downvote in 2015. Apple shareholders have not raised significant voting opposition to executive pay since 2013. The vote on executive pay is not binding, so even if shareholders cannot reach an agreement, there is every chance the measure will still pass.
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