Compensation
How much does John Ternus make? Salary and pay
Apple disclosed John Ternus's CEO pay in an SEC filing on September 1, 2026: a $3 million annual salary and a $55 million target equity award for fiscal 2027. That is a target package of about $58 million, not a guaranteed cash check. Apple has not published a net-worth figure.
Short answer. Apple's SEC filing on September 1, 2026 set John Ternus's CEO salary at $3 million a year and a $55 million target equity award for fiscal 2027 — about $58 million in target pay. That is not the same thing as cash in a bank, and it is not a net-worth figure.
How much does John Ternus make?
Apple told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in an 8-K/A filed September 1, 2026 (his first day as CEO):
| Component | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual salary | $3 million | Effective September 1, 2026 |
| Prorated RSU award, fiscal 2026 | $2.5 million target | For the portion of FY2026 he serves as CEO |
| Annual equity award, fiscal 2027 | $55 million target | To be granted in FY2027 |
| Headline "package" often quoted | ~$58 million | $3M salary + $55M FY2027 equity target |
Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, and 9to5Mac all reported those figures from the filing. This page follows the filing, not celebrity blogs.
How the $55 million equity award works
It is a target, not a wire transfer.
- 75% performance-based restricted stock units. Vesting depends on Apple's total shareholder return compared with other S&P 500 companies.
- 25% time-based RSUs, vesting 12.5% every six months over four years.
If Apple underperforms that index, the performance slice can pay less than the target. If it outperforms, it can pay more, depending on the plan's scale. This site will not pretend the headline number is already in his pocket.
Apple did not, in that filing, disclose a cash bonus target for Ternus. Cook had received large cash incentives in prior years; that history is Cook's, not a Ternus guarantee.
Tim Cook's new pay, for comparison
The same filing described Cook's executive chairman package:
- Salary $2 million (down from $3 million as CEO), starting September 26, 2026
- Fiscal 2027 equity target $45 million
- Combined target often quoted as about $47 million
Cook's fiscal 2025 total compensation as CEO was reported around $74 million. That is last year's job, not Ternus's current one. Do not flatten those numbers into "Ternus makes $74 million."
What is John Ternus's net worth?
Apple has not published a net worth.
There is no Forbes real-time billionaire card that this site will treat as official. Celebrity Net Worth and similar pages print round numbers. Those are estimates, not filings.
What is in the public record, as reported from Form 3 / related disclosures around the CEO start:
- On the order of 34,000 Apple shares held directly (newsrooms translated that to roughly $11 million at then-current prices — a snapshot, not a permanent fortune)
- A larger pile of unvested restricted stock from his hardware-executive years, whose eventual value depends on vesting and Apple's share price
Adding those together and calling the sum "net worth" still skips houses, taxes, other assets, and debt. This site will not publish a single invented net-worth number.
If you need one honest sentence: pay is disclosed; net worth is not.
What this page will not do
- Treat a $58 million target as cash
- Copy a $75 million celebrity-site net worth as fact
- Estimate the value of unvested RSUs as if they were sold
- Guess his previous SVP salary (Apple did not disclose it in the CEO 8-K/A)
For the job that produced the package, see Apple's new CEO and the career / CV.
Frequently asked questions
What is John Ternus's salary?
Apple's September 1, 2026 SEC filing set his annual CEO salary at $3 million, effective the day he became CEO.
How much does John Ternus make as Apple CEO?
A $3 million salary plus a $55 million target equity award for fiscal 2027, about $58 million in target compensation. Most of that is stock that depends on performance, not cash.
What is John Ternus's net worth?
Apple has not published a net-worth number. Celebrity sites guess. This site reports the disclosed salary, equity targets, and that he held on the order of 34,000 Apple shares when he became CEO — not a made-up fortune.
Does John Ternus make as much as Tim Cook?
Cook's fiscal 2025 total compensation was reported around $74 million. Ternus's fiscal 2027 target is about $58 million. Cook's executive-chairman target is about $47 million. Those are different jobs and different years.
Related reading
Sources
- Apple Inc. Form 8-K/A — CEO and Executive Chair compensation (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (reported))
- Apple Sets Pay Targets at $58 Million for Ternus, $47 Million for Cook (Bloomberg)
- Apple to Give New CEO $3 Million Salary (The Wall Street Journal)
- Here’s how much Apple is paying John Ternus as CEO, Tim Cook as executive chairman (9to5Mac)
- Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman; John Ternus to become Apple CEO (Apple Newsroom)
Last updated 2026-09-11. Dates change only when the page is actually revised.