[citation][nom]anony2004[/nom]$59 million last year? Isn't that a hell lot of money to earn?[/citation]
Yes, it obviously is, but you have to keep in mind how well Apple is doing, financially. The stock has done very well over the past few years and, as high-priced as it is, has room to go up further thanks to the company essentially dominating the tablet/smartphone market, along with Google. So, investors are reaping the benefits of Jobs'/Cook's assured stewardship of the company over the past decade. The mobile area is the future of computing, and Apple looks set to have a lion's share of the revenue, barring some catastrophic screw-up.
CEO compensation ideally should reflect the fiscal performance of the company which the CEO runs. To be sure, there are many CEO's earning salaries that are far out of proportion to their company's level of success, but Cook is not one of them.