Angela Ahrendts, Apple Inc.’s senior vice president of retail and online stores, was the highest-paid female executive in the U.S. last year.
The former chief executive officer of London-based fashion retailer Burberry Group Plc was awarded $82.6 million in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ahrendts, 54, joined the world’s most-valuable company in May 2014 and became the first woman on its management team.
Ahrendts’s pay included a sign-on bonus and a make-whole grant for awards left behind at Burberry. The pay package is currently valued at $105.5 million. Josh Rosenstock, a spokesman for Apple, wouldn’t comment on her compensation.
Yahoo! Inc.’s Marissa Mayer was the country’s highest-paid female CEO. The 39-year-old was awarded $59.1 million in 2014, making her No. 3 among the eight women on the Bloomberg Pay Index, a daily ranking of the top-paid U.S. executives. Her compensation, more than 95 percent of which is comprised of stock and options, has fallen in value to $45 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Yahoo announced in January that it planned to spin off its remaining investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which had bolstered the Sunnyvale, California-based company’s stock last year. Mayer is under pressure to create shareholder value without it.
“There’s a limited number of people who are viewed as having those skill sets, and you have to pay for it,” said David Doyle, an executive compensation lawyer at Day Pitney LLP.
Yahoo spokeswoman Rebecca Neufeld declined to comment.
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Oracle Corp.’s Safra Catz was No. 2 on the ranking after being awarded $71.2 million in fiscal 2014 for her role as chief financial officer. Catz was named co-CEO after the Redwood City, California-based company’s fiscal 2014 year ended. In connection to her promotion, she received 500,000 options and 125,000 performance stock units, according to a September filing.
Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger declined to comment.