Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple spends more to keep CEO Tim Cook safe than it does to pay a dozen of its highest-paid Genius Bar workers for a year.
Salaries at Apple Store help desks top off at about $55,000, according to data from PayScale, a firm that tracks salaries and benefits. Apple spent nearly $700,000 on Cook's security last year.
In a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company outlined its expenses for Cook's 401(k) plan, life insurance policy, vacation time and security:
The cost of Cook's safety should come as no surprise. Earlier this year, Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at more than $700 billion. And last October, Cook made history as the first chief executive of a Fortune 500 firm to come out as gay, making him a potential target for hateful violence.
Still, Cook's security expenses pale in comparison to others in the tech industry.
Amazon spent $1.6 million in 2013 to protect CEO Jeff Bezos, according to the executive compensation tracking firm Equilar. Oracle paid $1.5 million that year for now-former CEO Larry Ellison's security.
Other companies spent significantly less to protect their chief executives. Disney, which ranked third behind Amazon and Oracle in 2013 for security expenditures for its CEO, paid $584,075 for Bob Iger's security. Berkshire Hathaway, which spent $385,606 on Warren Buffett, ranked fourth.