Apple CEO Tim Cook was the highest-paid chief executive at a public U.S. company in 2011 with total compensation of $378 million. After becoming CEO in August 2011, Apple had record profits in the first quarter of $13.06 billion. Equilar, an executive compensation data firm, compiled a list of CEO pay of companies with revenue over $5 billion that filed annual proxy statements by March 30, 2012. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)