Apple CEO Tim Cook is a few days away from a $120 million payday (AAPL)

Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in line to earn $120 million in Apple stock on Friday.
His compensation is tied to Apple's performance in the stock market.

Tim Cook's fortune is tied to Apple's performance in the stock market.

In 2013, two years after Cook became CEO, Apple updated his compensation plan to include large chunks of stock that would vest if, over a three year period, Apple outperformed two-thirds of the S&P 500, an index tracking 500 of the biggest public U.S. companies.

Apple is up 31% in the last 12 months, and it's outperformed 81% of the stocks in the index, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNBC. Apple also is the first company with a sustained $1 trillion valuation, which it achieved earlier this month.

That means Cook is lined up to receive a massive payday: 560,000 shares, the maximum amount possible, worth over $120 million at Wednesday's closing price of $215.05.

If the 57-year-old executive is granted the full amount of shares, it will be the fifth consecutive time he's received the maximum payout.

Cook's unvested shares actually make up the bulk of his estimated $625 million fortune. He currently owns 878,425 shares of Apple, worth about $188 million.

Cook said in 2015 that he plans to give his entire fortune to charity. On Tuesday, he donated nearly $5 million in Apple stock to an unspecified charity, according to an SEC filing.

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