&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "How much did Steve Jobs get paid from Apple?")
Steve Jobs is remembered as one of the most influential figures in technology. But there is one unusual detail about his time at Apple that still attracts attention: his salary was just $1 a year.
After returning to Apple in 1997, Jobs received a $1 annual salary as the company’s interim CEO and continued on that salary after becoming permanent CEO. Apple confirmed the arrangement in its filings.
So, did Jobs really get paid only $1 by Apple?
Not exactly. Steve Jobs’ famous $1 salary
Jobs’ $1 salary was real. Apple said he had received that salary every year since returning to the company in 1997. In fiscal 2010, for example, his reported salary was again just $1. He received no new stock or option award that year.
The strategy was closely linked to his ownership of Apple shares. Apple said Jobs’ stock ownership aligned his interests with shareholders. By 2010, Jobs owned about 5.5 million Apple shares. He had not sold shares since returning to the company in 1997.
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
How fast can the Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet really fly?
)
Did China ask its people 'not to respond to aliens'? Origin of bizarre claim on social media
)
MS Dhoni-CSK Fallout? Report claims failed stake sale talks triggered rift
)
Scientists reveal the SAFEST COUNTRY when catastrophe strikes the planet
)
Serial killer on the loose in South Korea's Jeju Island? Fourth body found in three days as more than a dozen people go missing
)
2/3rd of glacier detached, collapsed: ISRO satellite images reveal what triggered Nepal floods
)
Trump once again claims without him there would be ‘no Israel right now’
)
Foreign espionage attacks against German companies surge to 37%, Bitkom report reveals
)
Blake Lively wins partial legal fee from Justin Baldoni after $8M request
)
Why is Pakistan deploying Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones near India border?
)
'OH MY GOD! We've found other agents!': Investigators discover not one or two, almost 700 OpenAI AI agents went rogue, hacked Hugging Face
)
Lunar eclipse 2026: India timings, places to see and more. August Blood moon factsheet
)
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on global outreach tour
)
Both pilots killed as training aircraft crashes in Lucknow – What we know
)
16-year-old charged with preparing terror attack on kindergarten in Norway
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
How the S-400 protects itself from enemy attacks
)
Nepal floods: Over 165 dead, 400 missing; US, India, China, World Bank mobilise aid
)
India's multi-layered watch: The new surveillance war
)
5 doomsday planes spotted in US skies hours after CIA director's secret trip to Russia
)
9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to finally face trial in 2028, nearly 27 years after horrific attacks
)
Islamabad hospital fire: What we know about one of the biggest facility that housed Imran Khan
)
Workers run for life while filming Nepal flash flood: Scary new visuals emerge from Rasuwa
)
Russian military planes enter South Korean air defence zone amid rising tensions with North Korea: What's happening
)
Ron Weasley Is Back! Rupert Grint set to return to Harry Potter universe on Broadway
)
400-year-old 'vampire' grave in Poland reveals non-existent genetic lineage
)
Dolly Parton, global icon and queen of country music, dies at 80
)
Nepal flash floods: Kailash Mansarovar yatra affected, close to 400 pilgrims out of contact
)
'If he is dead, they're putting on a pretty good show': Trump casts fresh doubt over Mojtaba Khamenei's fate
)
Man arrested near US Capitol with guillotine in pickup truck: What happened?
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
Why the Su-30MKI cockpit is painted bright turquoise green
Apple gave Jobs a huge stock award
The biggest part of Jobs’ Apple compensation came through equity. In 2003, Jobs voluntarily cancelled 27.5 million stock options and received 5 million restricted shares instead. The award was valued at about $74.75 million at the time.
Those shares later increased to 10 million after Apple’s stock split and vested fully in 2006. Apple’s stock had risen sharply during that period, making the award enormously valuable.
He also received a $90 million private jet
According to reports Jobs’ compensation history included another extraordinary perk. In 1999, Apple awarded him a Gulfstream V aircraft for his service as interim CEO. Apple said the aircraft was worth about $90 million.
The amount was later recorded differently in Apple’s filings because the plane was transferred to Jobs in 2001 and related payments and tax assistance were reported across fiscal years. So while the famous headline says Steve Jobs earned $1 a year, that figure describes his base salary, not the full value of everything he received from Apple. His story became an early example of how billionaire executives can receive little in cash salary while building enormous wealth through company stock.
