By Daisuke Wakabayashi
Apple Inc. said J. Crew Inc. Chief Executive Millard "Mickey"
Drexler plans to step down from its board of directors in
March.
In its proxy filing, Apple said Mr. Drexler informed the board
last week that he will retire at the end of his current term, at
the company's annual meeting on March 10. Mr. Drexler, a longtime
confidant of Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs, joined the company's
board in 1999 and played a pivotal role in Apple's rollout of its
own retail stores.
Apple said it doesn't have a candidate to replace Mr. Drexler,
meaning its board will operate with seven directors for the time
being.
"We're grateful for Mickey's 15 years of service on our board,
during which time the company's revenues have increased more than
30-fold," said an Apple spokeswoman.
The announcement of Mr. Drexler's impending departure comes six
months after Intuit Inc. Chairman Bill Campbell, another stalwart
of Apple's board and a longtime Jobs ally, stepped down as a
director. Apple replaced him with Sue Wagner, a founding partner at
asset-management firm BlackRock Inc.
The turnover on Apple's board is the latest sign of Apple Chief
Executive Tim Cook placing his own stamp on the company four years
after he took over for Mr. Jobs, the company's iconic
co-founder.
In its proxy statement, Apple said Mr. Cook received $9.2
million in total compensation for the fiscal year ended September
2014. That included a $6.7 million cash bonus, or four times his
annual salary, for exceeding the high end of Apple's targets for
sales and operating income.
In the prior fiscal year, Mr. Cook received $4.25 million in
salary and bonus.
Apple said the large bonus was one of several changes to its
executive-compensation program. Executives can receive cash bonuses
of up to 400% of their base salary if the company reaches the high
end of its target range.
The company also said it started granting stock awards to
executives other than Mr. Cook on an annual basis instead of every
other year, as it had done previously. Apple said Senior Vice
Presidents Eddy Cue and Jeff Williams received $20 million each in
stock awards in the past fiscal year.
Mr. Cook didn't receive stock-based compensation last year. He
was awarded one million restricted Apple shares, then valued at
$376 million, in August 2011, when he took over as CEO.
Apple's retail chief Angela Ahrendts was the highest-paid
executive with compensation totaling $73.3 million in the past
fiscal year. Ms. Ahrendts joined Apple in May from Burberry Group
PLC, where she was CEO. As part of her move, Apple provided her
with $37 million in "make whole" stock awards to make up for equity
grants she left behind at Burberry.
She also received $33 million in additional equity awards. Apple
had reported her stock awards in May 2014 when she joined the
company.
Write to Daisuke Wakabayashi at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com
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