It's also a big, fat opportunity cost. Having helped turn Apple into the largest and most successful company in America, Cook could pretty much be running any company he wants. Apple paid him to keep him. Realistically, you couldn't put just any yahoo--like, say, the CEO of Yahoo--in charge of Apple. We and it wasn't very much fun.

The Macalope's not a fan of out-of-whack executive compensation, so he's not going to defend the overall number, but he will defend the number relative to other executives. Doesn't it seem like there's a bigger problem than rewarding a star like Cook--such as executives who get paid generously completely screwing up a company?

If Apple's growth crashes to a mere 10 percent, then the detractors might be right. The Macalope doesn't see that happening, though.

Fresh from complaining about how unseemly this whole "patent" thing is, !