Image caption Tim Cook was previously chief operating officer at Apple

Apple chief executive Tim Cook was awarded a pay package worth $378m (£244m) in 2011, most of which came in shares payable in the coming years.

Apple's board granted Mr Cook 1 million restricted stock units, worth $376m, to signal its confidence in him when he took over from Steve Jobs in August.

His salary and performance bonus, about $900,000 each, made up the rest, a company filing showed.

Mr Jobs, who died in October, owned 5.5 million Apple shares.

He famously received a salary of only $1 a year.

Aaron Boyd, head of research at Equilar, an executive compensation data firm, said Mr Cook's stock award was the largest single award given by a company for a decade.

Mr Cook will receive half of the shares in 2016 and half in 2021.

Analysts expect the Apple chief to have been the highest paid chief executive in the US in 2011.

The best paid boss in 2010 was Viacom head Philippe Dauman, with an $84.5m haul based on a new contract that granted him shares and stock options.