How Angela Ahrendts came to be earning millions more than her boss - Women's Agenda

How Angela Ahrendts came to be earning millions more than her boss

Last year, Angela Ahrendts earned almost eight times more than her boss.

Ahrendts is the senior vice president of Apple’s retail and online stores. In 2014, her total remuneration package was $93.14 million, including a salary of $522, 024 and a stock package worth $88.8 million. But Apple’s CEO Tim Cook earned considerably less; his compensation package amounted to $11.7 million.

So how did she do it?

Ahrendts was poached by Apple from the fashion industry. She was the chief executive at British designer brand Burberry when she was head hunted by the Apple team. Prior to her CEO role, she had worked for Donna Karen International, Henri Bendel, Fifth & PacificCompanies and Liz Caliborne Inc.

What truly impressed Apple was Ahrendts’ ability to turn Burberry around during her 8-year tenure as CEO. The luxury brand was suffering decline as a result of the saturation and reproduction of its iconic check pattern, and Ahrendts was tasked with the difficult job ofstabilizing the brand financially.

She did this by expanding the brand to Latin American and Chinese markets, both of which led to a sharp rise in sales after years of decline. She also decided to reduce the number of products featuring the iconic check pattern to 10% in order to mitigate the damage done by counterfeit products and minimise the perception that the pattern was widespread and easily attainable. She is also widely acknowledged for transforming the business into a digitally equipped, 21st century enterprise.

Her overhaul of the brand extended to marketing as well. Ahrendts hired an entirely new set of Burberry faces to change the brand’s image, including Emma Watson and Kate Moss.

During her time as CEO, the value of the business rose from AU$3.8 billion to $13.3 billion. In 2012, Ahrendts earned $26.3 million, making her Britain’s highest paid CEO.

Ahrendts was born in New Palestine, Indiania in 1960. Knowing she wanted to pursue a career in the fashion industry, she completed a marketing and merchandising degree at Ball State University in Indiana. She got her first job – at Donna Karen – straight out of university in 1981 and has been catapulted through the ranks of the fashion industry ever since, landing the chief executive job at one of the world’s biggest designer brands by the age of 46.

In 2013, she was named one of only three women on the FTSE 100 list. By 2014, she was out earning her boss eight to one.

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