Apple must have been satisfied with its 2012 financial performance, as its Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer, was the highest paid among all CFOs last year.
Oppenheimer, under whose watch Apple’s cash pile grew to roughly $120 billion in 2012, saw a compensation package of $68.6 million for the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That figure is more than 16 times Apple CEO Tim Cook’s compensation for the year.
Stock grants compromised the lion’s share of Oppenheimer’s pay for the year, the fifth-highest among all S&P 500 executives. The Apple CFO’s $68.6 million pay was way out front of the $51.7 million earned by tech’s next-highest compensated CFO, Oracle’s Safra Catz. Google’s Patrick Pichette was No. 3 at $38.7 million.
Oppenheimer’s financial management has allowed Apple to pile up cash holdings in excess of what many companies earn yearly. Oppenheimer has kept two-thirds of Apple’s holdings outside the U.S., thereby saving the company billions in corporate tax payments.
Apple’s CFO also put together the company’s recent bond offering, which will allow savings of $9.2 billion in taxes by borrowing against its cash hoard instead of bringing its overseas cash back home.
Oppenheimer became CFO in 2004, previously serving as corporate controller and vice president and worldwide sales controller.
