Apple boss Tim Cook reaches billionaire status

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Apple chief executive Tim Cook has moved into the billionaire club as the tech firm's share price continues to soar.

Apple's market value has been on the rise following strong results and the upbeat outlook for tech giants.

Mr Cook owns 847,969 shares directly and took home more than £125m (£96m) last year as part of his pay package.

Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg saw his personal wealth hit $100bn (£76bn).

Technology companies including Apple, Facebook and Amazon have seen their profits grow during the coronavirus pandemic as more people went online.

Silicon-Valley based Apple is now closing in on the milestone of being the first company to be valued at $2tn. Two years ago it become the first company to be valued at $1tn.

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Mr Cook took over from Apple founder Steve Jobs nine years ago. His billionaire status is based on the shares he owns and the compensation he has been paid at Apple, and calculated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In 2015, he said he plans to give most of his fortune away and has already donated million of dollars worth of Apple shares.

Facebook's Zuckerberg has made a similar pledge to give away the majority of his shares.

Mr Zuckerberg, along with Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Tesla's Elon Musk, accrued wealth from the huge stakes in the companies they founded.

In comparison, Mr Cook's stake in Apple is miniscule at about 0.02%.

Based on US federal and state taxes for California, Mr Cook would face a tax rate of just over 50%, as a top-bracket earner.

Watches and music

While Apple has not revealed any new products as groundbreaking as its iPhone, the company still has thrived since Mr Cook took over the reins.

He has overseen the development of devices such as the iPhone X and Apple Watch, along with new services like Apple Music.