Apple paid CEO Tim Cook $10.3 million in 2015

Tim Cook's base pay increased about 14.4% to $2 million last year

Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook's compensation rose 11.5 per cent to $10.3 million in 2015, the company said on Wednesday, a year when its sales grew 28 per cent and profits by 35 per cent but its shares fell for the first time since 2008.

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri's annual compensation rose about 81 per cent to $25.3 million in 2015. In fact, Cook was the lowest-paid of the company's top executives. Angela Ahrendts, the senior vice president for retail and online stores, was the highest paid, with a total pay package of $25.8 million.

Cook's base pay increased about 14.4 per cent to $2 million last year, while non-equity incentive compensation rose about 19 per cent to $8 million, according to a regulatory filing. Apple had a good year for the most part under Cook. Sales in China in the most recent quarter nearly doubled from the same quarter in the prior year, for instance, and the iPhone continued to see record sales.

The company hit a rough patch towards the end of 2015, with shares falling about 4.6 per cent for the year, the stock's first negative year since the global credit crisis.

As of September 26, Cook held about 3.1 million Apple shares that have not vested, potentially enabling him to earn over $310 million based on the stock's Wednesday closing price.

The shares are expected to vest between August 2016 and August 2021. Shares of the world's most valuable company dropped below $100 for the first time in nearly five months on Wednesday before regaining some ground to close at $100.70.