Ari Emanuel’s compensation as CEO of Endeavor hit nearly $84 million in 2023, quadrupling his pay package from the previous year.
The executive received a pay package totaling to $83.88 million, according to Endeavor’s proxy filing filed Thursday, which included a salary of $4.9 million, a $34.65 million bonus, $43.47 million in stock awards and $847,045 in “other” compensation, which reflected $225,000 in incremental cost related to business management and tax advisory services and the value of personal use of the company aircraft, reserved parking, personal cell phone expenses, and 401(k) matching contributions.
A majority of the $84 million compensation came from Emanuel’s role as CEO of TKO Group, which was valued at $65 million, according to TKO’s proxy filing filed Wednesday. When factoring out the added $$64.9 million from the TKO deal, which merged WWE and the UFC to create TKO Group Holdings, Inc, Emanuel’s Endeavor pay totaled to $18.97 — comparable to the $19.1 million he earned from the role in 2022.
Emanuel’s total compensation for 2023 was up a whopping 340% from the $19,068,011 he earned as Endeavor CEO the previous year in 2022, which including a base salary of $4 million. Despite the steep pay increase, the $84 million pay package is still far off from the $308 million Emanuel received in 2021 (in large part from a one-time stock grant), which dropped significantly following Endeavor’s first full year as a public company.
The median Endeavor employee earned $70,841 in total compensation in 2023. The ratio of Emanuel’s compensation compared to the media employee was 1,184 to 1.
Elsewhere, Endeavor president and COO Mark Shapiro received a total pay package of $38.85 million, including TKO compensation, a salary of $3.75 million, $18.5 million in bonuses and $16 million in stock awards. That’s up significantly from the total compensation of $18.73 million Shapiro tallied up last year.
Executive chairman Patrick Whitesell saw $13.27 million in pay, up slightly from his 2022 pay package of $12.21 million.
The latest pay disclosure comes as Endeavor’s majority shareholder Silver Lake plans to acquire the company for $13 billion and take it private at $27.50 per share. That deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals.
Under the agreement with Silver Lake, Endeavor will not sell its controlling stake in TKO. When consolidating TKO’s value into Endeavor, the private equity firm estimates the company has a total enterprise value of $25 billion, making the deal the largest private equity sponsor public-to-private investment transaction in over a decade and the largest ever in the media and entertainment sector.
As part of the move, Emanuel will be eligible to receive a $25 million “asset sale transaction bonus” and will be entitled to royalty payments from WME equal to 2.5% of the quarterly net cash profits of the agency representation business of WME and its affiliates. He’ll also receive new equity awards representing an initial award of 2.5%, made up of one-third options and two-thirds restricted stock units, as well as a supplemental award of 0.5% of the equity interests, calculated on a fully diluted basis.
Additionally, Emanuel will receive ownership of one of Endeavor’s private planes following the effective date of the merger. The company will pay or reimburse him for reasonable costs and expenses related to the use of it for business purposes. Starting on the second anniversary of the closing, Emanuel will also have a one-time right to require that the company repurchase all or a portion of his company interest.
Shares of Endeavor, which closed at $26.43 apiece on Thursday, are up 13% year to date.
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