Jobs May Get a Raise

In its annual 10-K report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple says that "because Mr. Jobs's continued leadership is critical to Apple, the compensation committee is considering additional compensation arrangements for him."

The man better known on these pages as the Jerkoff has taken only a token annual salary of $1 since returning to Apple in 1996, for which he is recognized as the world's lowest-paid CEO by Guinness World Records. He is well-compensated by other means, however, being the frequent recipient of gifts from Apple's board of directors, such as a Gulfstream Jet and tens of millions of shares in restricted stock, which have contributed to Jobs's estimated net worth of $5.7 billion. (One incentive for this form of compensation: Capital gains tax on stock market profits is less exacting than federal income tax on earnings.)

The "low-paid but highly-compensated" approach at Apple isn't limited to Jobs. Board Director Al Gore is the lowest-paid director apart from Google CEO Eric Schmidt, but accepted $15,245 in hardware. It's a safe bet that he's one Dude who isn't getting Dells. And some 21,600 Apple staffers received free iPhones (and they didn't even have to wait in line).

Stock options have caused difficulties for Jobs recently. Options conferred to Jobs in 2001 -- 7.5 million of them -- were granted at an unusually low exercise price. Investigators examined the possibility these options were back-dated, but no charges have been filed, and an internal investigation at Apple found that Jobs was unaware of how stock options were issued. A judge threw out a lawsuit related to the options affair on Wednesday.

That $1-a-year salary might not be enough any more for Apple's control freak.

http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/11/steve-jobs-may.html