When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, his negotiated pay was one dollar a year. I hope he also got benefits that don’t require an employee contribution. I can only assume that he doesn’t mind paying to go to work. But it is true. In fact, I will make more money writing this post than Steve Jobs has made in the 10 years since he returned to the CEO role at Apple.

From Reuters:

“In fiscal year 2007, Mr. Jobs’s entire compensation consisted of his $1 annual salary,” Apple said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Because Mr. Jobs’s continued leadership is critical to the company, the Compensation Committee is considering additional compensation arrangements for him,” the maker of the iPod said.

While Apple’s shares lost 11 percent on Tuesday during after hours trading, no one can deny that without Steve Jobs, Apple might not have survived this far. Yet, he remains the lowest paid CEO, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

On the other hand, Steve is rated by Forbes as #132 of the world’s billionaires, and he describes his fortune as “self-made.”

It’s hard to tell how the Compensation Committee will choose to make those additional compensation arrangements. Steve currently holds 5.5 million shares of Apple’s common stock– none of which he’s sold in the ten years that he’s been back. He’s also considered to be the largest Disney shareholder, probably compensation from the sale of Pixar to Disney in May, 2006. Maybe they will just buy him a new Gulfstream and call it good.

Can you imagine working for a dollar a year?