Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc has increased stock compensation for key executives in 2012, using Apple as a peer group in helping it determine how much to pay executives.
According to a compensation specialist, peer groups are chosen based on which company they compete against for talent.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the world's largest internet retailer gave Jeffrey Wilke, head of Amazon's consumer business, 91,289 restricted stock units, a common form of equity compensation known as RSUs, up by 83 percent from 2010.
Amazon's international consumer business head Diego Piacentini, got 60,246 RSUs in 2012, up 31 percent from 2010, while Andrew Jassy, head of the company's cloud computing business, was awarded 59,519 RSUs, up 29 percent from 2010, the report said. Amazon awards RSUs to executives every two years.
Analysts said that Amazon's filing showed how the business had evolved, now focusing more on hardware and digital media, making it more competitive with companies like Apple.
Regulatory records, however, show that despite the increase in equity awards, Apple's executive compensation is still way ahead.
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