Tim Cook stepped down as CEO of Apple in September 2026, ending a 15-year reign. During that time, Cook guided the tech giant toward record revenue, and at one point during his leadership, Apple was the first publicly traded U.S. company to attain a trillion-dollar market capitalization — boosted by sales of products including the iPhone and the iPad.
Here’s how much Apple stock former CEO Cook owns and how he accumulated his shares.
How much of Apple does Tim Cook own?
Tim Cook owns 3.2 million shares in Apple, according to an October 1, 2026, SEC filing. That’s a tiny fraction of the company’s 14.59 billion shares outstanding. Still, the value of Cook’s shares in Apple was $1.1 billion, based on a mid-October 2026 stock price of $348.22.
Related: Tim Cook’s net worth: The retired Apple CEO’s wealth in 2026
Is Tim Cook the largest individual shareholder of Apple?
Tim Cook is among the largest known individual shareholders of Apple whose own stake is less than 5%. Arthur D. Levinson, who has been an Apple board member since 2000, owned 3.7 million shares, according to a May 2026 SEC filing.
There are no individuals whose ownership in Apple is 5% or more, the threshold that would require a person to disclose their stake under SEC rules. Institutional investors are the largest holders of Apple stock.
Apple’s largest institutional shareholders
Institutional investors are the largest holders of Apple stock. Altogether, institutions owned 76.6% of the company’s total shares as of October 2026, according to Nasdaq. The Vanguard Group owns the most, with a 9.8% stake, followed by BlackRock (8%) and Vanguard Capital Management (6.6%), based on data compiled by Nasdaq and calculated by TheStreet.
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How & when did Tim Cook accumulate his Apple stock?
Tim Cook was rewarded handsomely for leading Apple after founder Steve Jobs’ death in 2011. Awards of restricted stock units — which later vested into common stock — were based on meeting performance-based financial goals within the company.
As Apple’s revenue rose over the years, so did Cook’s compensation. Before he stepped down as CEO in September 2026, Apple posted a profit of $112 billion on sales of $416 billion in its fiscal year 2025. That compared to a profit of nearly $42 billion on sales of $156 billion in fiscal 2012, Cook’s first year as CEO.
During Cook’s 15-year tenure as chief executive, Apple’s stock surged around 25-fold, to $347.72 in late October 2026. At the same time, market capitalization surged from around $370 billion to $5 trillion.
How much stock did Tim Cook get as part of his compensation package?
In 2025, Cook had a base salary of $3 million, according to the tech giant’s 2026 proxy statement. But stock awards valued at $57.5 million and cash pushed his overall compensation up to $74 million — roughly the same amount he made the previous year.
