Michael Rapino, Other Live Nation Execs Partially Forfeit Bonuses Due to COVID-19
Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino is forfeiting approximately $4 million in stock after missing revenue targets at the concert promotion company due to the pandemic, according to a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Rapino will forfeit 47,778 performance-based restricted shares of the company, which has been trading at an average of 16% higher than the company’s pre-pandemic period when the stock first crossed the $76 per share marker. The forfeited stock was issued in 2020 in lieu of cash payments for bonuses earned in 2019, due to “cash savings initiative in connection with the global COVID-19 pandemic,” according to Live Nation’s 2020 annual report.
Live Nation President Joe Berchtold and chief financial officer Kathy Willard also forfeited restricted stock today due to the revenue miss. A spokesperson for Live Nation told Billboard that regular stock and cash payments were also reduced as part of the adjustment. In April, Rapino announced he was reducing his salary to $0 as part of a cost-savings initiative at the company brought on by the pandemic.
In 2019, the company’s compensation committee agreed to pay Rapino a $6 million cash bonus if the company achieved an adjusted operating income of $875.0 million, and between $6 to $12 million if he hit between 100% and 110% of the AOI target. Rapino ended up hitting 109% of his target AOI ($942 million) for a cash award of $11.4 million, which he deferred until the end of 2020. The final breakdown detailing what Rapino took in cash and stock options will be detailed later this month in Live Nation’s annual proxy statement.