Live Nation Releases Executive Compensation Info

Documents filed by Live Nation with the U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission showed that numerous executives had a huge gain in their 2017 earnings, thanks to a huge spike in stock awards.

– Michael Rapino

According to the documents, obtained by Pollstar, Live Nation President/CEO Michael Rapino earned $70.6 million in 2017, thanks to $58.6 million in stock options. His base salary was $2.4 million and he earned a $1 million bonus, as the company had achieved its goals for adjusted operating income on the year.

Joe Berchtold earned nearly $28.8 million on the year, with approximately $25.7 coming in stock options.

The stock awards were astronomically higher for both of these individuals in 2017, as in 2016 they earned $574,992 and $275,009 respectively. Rapino earned $10.4 million total in 2016 and Berchtold earned approximately $3.5 million.

Rapino inked a deal committing himself to work for Live Nation until 2022, referenced in the document as the “Rapino 2017 Agreement”.

After the top two head honchos, Live Nation’s general counsel and secretary Michael Rowles and chief financial officer each raked in significant hauls in stock awards, with Rowles taking nearly $1.3 million in stock and Willard taking $2.4 million in stock.

The document also contains compensation info for each member of the board of directors, including Ari Emanuel, Jimmy Iovine, Mark Shapiro and others. All of those fees were less than $130,000 and stocks awarded were almost universally $154,361.

The report includes a number of highlights related to the company’s yearly business: company revenue in 2017 was up 24 percent to $10.3 billion; concert attendance climbed 21 percent to 86 million fans; and sponsorship/advertising revenue grew 18 percent. A growth of 5 percent in average ticket prices translated to $250 million in additional revenue and per-fan spending at amphitheatres grew 9 percent in the year.