Apple's Tim Cook gets his earthly reward

For filling in for Steve Jobs: A $5 million bonus and stock worth nearly $17 million (now that's what I call a job worth having). Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer and heir apparent, got his on Friday, March 12th. For taking the reins when Steve Jobs went on medical leave in Jan. 2009 and heading the company with no visible hitches until his master's return six months later, Cook was awarded a $5 million cash bonus and 75,000 shares of restricted stock.

The fact is, Cook runs Apple's day-to-day operations even when Jobs is around, making the supply chains run on time and freeing his CEO up to cut high-level deals, rub shoulders with Hollywood moguls, and figure out where the puck is going, to paraphrase Jobs' favorite Wayne Gretzky quote, not where it's been. Before the latest bonus, Cook was already company's highest-paid executive, thanks in part to Jobs' famous $1 a year salary (via fortune).