The wealthy acquired richer when it got here to government compensation as soon as UFC and WWE merged to develop into TKO Group Holdings this previous September.
In a brand new monetary disclosure filed with the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) forward of an annual stockholders assembly in June, compensation packages for the highest TKO executives have been revealed for the fiscal yr in 2023, together with CEO Ari Emanuel incomes almost $65 million.
The monetary bundle included $911,538 in wage, which was prorated based mostly on the merger date — Sept. 12 2023 — to the tip of the fiscal yr, together with a $24 million bonus and $40,000,094 in inventory awards.
As a part of his general bonus, Emanuel took dwelling a whopping $20 million transaction bonus from UFC alone that “was not tied to achievement of any specified efficiency measure and, as such, isn’t included herein.”
Mark Shapiro, the TKO president and chief working officer, took dwelling a bundle valued at greater than $16 million, which included a $9 million bonus and greater than $6 million in inventory awards.
Andrew Schleimer, the chief monetary officer, earned greater than $8.7 million, with a $5 million bonus and greater than $3.1 million in inventory awards.
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WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan additionally took dwelling greater than $32 million in complete compensation, which included a $15 million bonus and greater than $12 million in inventory awards.
The deal to merge UFC and WWE collectively underneath the brand new label at TKO was valued at greater than $21 billion. In 2023, UFC produced document income of $1.3 billion pushed by media rights and will increase in sponsorships and reside occasions, with 20 sold-out exhibits and 7 of these among the many 20 highest grossing UFC occasions of all-time.
As a result of TKO stays a publicly traded firm, government compensation packages like these are made out there for stockholders and thru required SEC filings. The first TKO proprietor is Endeavor — the expertise company that additionally operates different main companies like On Location and Skilled Bull Riders — which owns a 51 p.c stake within the firm.
Endeavor was just lately taken non-public once more after Silver Lake bought the remainder of the remaining inventory out there for the corporate in a deal valued at $13 billion. Whereas Endeavor now not has to supply monetary disclosures as a non-public firm, TKO continues to be required as a publicly traded entity.
TKO seems poised for one more enormous yr in 2024 after WWE inked a pair of huge broadcast offers, together with a five-year, $10 billion contract to maneuver its flagship Monday Night time Uncooked program to Netflix beginning in 2025. UFC additionally begins negotiations quickly on a brand new TV rights deal, with the present contract with ESPN expiring after 2025.
