Find max from a list of structures in Java without using streams

MaxNoStreams.java

static class Employee {
    String firstName;
    String surname;
    double salary;  //yeah, right!
}

public Optional<Employee> max(Collection<Employee> collection) {
    if (collection == null || collection.isEmpty()) return Optional.empty();
    Iterator<Employee> employeeIterator = collection.iterator();

    Employee max = employeeIterator.next();
    while (employeeIterator.hasNext()) {
        Employee n = employeeIterator.next();
        if (n.salary > max.salary) max = n;
    }

    return Optional.of(max);
}