Apple may be king of computer world, but boss sees his pay cut by 99pc!

Tim Cook may be at the top of the Apple empire, but the paycheck may not show it.

The chief executive of Apple took a 99 per cent pay cut in his first full year in the job.

Cook, who succeeded the late Steve Jobs, was awarded total compensation of $4.17million in 2012, down from $378million in 2011, Apple said in a federal filing today.

The 2012 compensation package for Cook, who took over as chief executive in August 2011, also seemed a pittance compared with his 2010 pay, which was 14 times higher, when the executive served as chief operating officer.

Jobs, the iconic CEO and co-founder, died in October 2011 of pancreatic cancer.

The maker of the iPhone and iPad noted that Cook will not receive any stock awards for 2012 after he was given about $376.2million in stock awards the year before.

The stock awards vest over many years.

The 2012 package includes a salary of $1.4million and a non-equity bonus of $2.8million, according to the filing.

Apple tends to grant shares to executives every other year. Cook's closest cohorts got big grants in 2012, including top hardware engineer Robert Mansfield, who got shares worth $83million.

Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer and general counsel Bruce Sewell both got stock grants worth just over $66million, more than double the value of the grants they got two years ago, reflecting the zooming value of Apple's stock.

While Apple's shares are 35 per cent higher than when Cook assumed the CEO role, they have fallen more than 27 percent since October when they hit a $700.10 high.

Apple shares were down 0.6 per cent at $509.85 on the Nasdaq late on Thursday morning.

The Cupertino, California-based company's compensation policies are relatively simple.

Missing are many of the perks that other CEOs command, like country club fees and private use of company aircraft.