Apple chief's $1 salary a cunning stunt

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs's pledge to take home just $1 from the company was exposed as a publicity stunt after his real package was disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Although the papers filed by Apple confirm that Jobs only took home $1 as a salary, he was granted more than 7.5 million stock options which would have a value of more than $37m if cashed in.

Jobs can only cash in 25 per cent of the options now, with the remainder vesting annually over the next three years.

An Apple spokesman said that the company decided to award Jobs new options since nearly all of his existing options are priced higher than the company's current stock value.

He was also given a $43.5m jet and another $40m to pay the taxes on it.

Other Apple top executives received higher salaries with fewer perks: chief financial officer Fred Anderson ($657,039); executive vice president Tim Cook ($452,219 and a $500,000 bonus); senior vice president of hardware engineering Jonathan Rubinstein ($469,737); and senior vice president of software engineering Avie Tevanian ($460,873).