Michael Rapino has officially signed a half-decade contract to remain president and CEO of Live Nation, which could pay the Ontario native a staggering $30 million per year – in addition to a $6 million once-off bonus and more – under the agreement.
Rapino’s just-finalized pact with Live Nation (NYSE: LVY) came to light in a Securities and Exchange (SEC) filing, which notes at the outset that the new employment deal went into effect at July’s start and will run into December of 2027’s conclusion.
The Ticketmaster parent company’s board “unanimously” approved the arrangement, the document also discloses, and 90 percent of the associated yearly pay ($27 million) will be “performance-based compensation,” with the remaining $3 million representing the exec’s “guaranteed salary.”
Within the performance-based income, Rapino is on track to benefit from “an annual cash performance bonus” of a targeted $17 million in 2023. However, the exact figure will be “subject to increase or decrease based on actual performance,” and particularly in terms of the promoter’s results against an “adjusted operating income performance target established annually by” a board committee.
As for the remaining $10 million, Michael Rapino – who’s already cashed in on a substantial amount of his company’s stock this year – will enjoy an “annual performance-based grant of restricted shares,” the contract outline shows.
Like with the $17 million in cash, Live Nation has tied the stock’s precise value to operational goals set by the board. But the shares come with “an annual target value of not less than $10,000,000,” and 50 percent will vest upon issuance before the other half does so one year thereafter.
Further sweetening the pot for Rapino, whose company says that it’s moving millions of tickets amid crowd-based entertainment’s long-awaited comeback, are the 333,751 restricted Live Nation shares that he received on the 1st, worth a cumulative total of $28.79 million based upon the present LYV value of $86.25.
Besides these shares – 95,357 of which will vest at 2024’s start ahead of the remaining 238,394 shares’ vestiture “in equal installments” at the beginning of 2025, ’26, and ’27 – Rapino could pull down as many as 1,117,037 “performance shares” during the entire contract period.
Said performance shares are tied to Live Nation stock target prices: 230,803 shares issued if LYV cracks $93.895, 208,588 shares at a per-share price of $103.895, 190,274 shares at $113.895, 174,916 shares at $123.895, 161,852 shares at $133.895, and the last 150,604 shares at $143.895.
Notably, the shares won’t be distributed on an “all or nothing” basis, and the listed market-close values must be obtained “for a period of 60 days (which do not have to be consecutive),” the SEC filing states, “with the actual number of restricted shares earned ranging from 0% to 100% of the award amount.”
Finally, regarding Rapino’s windfall under the deal, Live Nation is expected to pay him a $6 million “signing bonus” on December 30th of 2022.
Live Nation stock is currently trading for $86.25 per share, as mentioned, but spiked past $127 in February after dipping into the low-$30s back in Q1 2020. In other market news, French streaming service Deezer debuted on the Euronext Paris earlier this week, but its shares have struggled thus far and are currently worth €5.58 ($5.67) apiece.