So what did Steve Jobs gain for announcing to the world that he was no longer Apple's interim CEO, but the position's permanent incumbent? In a jaunty release, the company confessed it had offered up to its saviour a Gulfstream V light aircraft (retail price: approx. $40 million) and the right to buy ten million Apple shares. Jobs, you may recall, got rid of his entire Apple stock but for a single share not long after engineering the sacking of Gil Amelio and assuming the company's pilot seat. Indeed, he only kept the single share because of promises he'd made previously that he would always remain an Apple shareholder. Amelio himself was a keen aviator, and had previously come up with the wheeze of renting his own aircraft to Apple for the company's executive transport needs. And don't forget Apple board member and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's own avian passion, which turned to anger when San Jose airport recently refused to allow him to take off -- for which he is now suing the city. Interestingly, Larry's choice of winged steed is also a Gulfstream V. Jobs salary will continue at $1, said Apple. But since $40 million of aircraft over the two and a half years Jobs has been Apple CEO translates to $16 million a year, if you figure that in salary terms he's not doing at all badly. And don't forget the paycheque he picks up every month from Pixar, which should keep the vegetarian CEO in mung beans and tofu for the foreseeable future. To be fair to the lad, Jobs has turned Apple round from a position that few pundits believed it could recover. But why maintain the 'comedy salary' routine? Like the 'interim', does Apple really think it's fooling anyone here? ®