Michael Rapino Included On List Of Highest-Paid CEOs By State

Waterproof Pictures – Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino
speaks during a Keynore Q&A moderated by Emporium Presents

With $70.6 million in earnings, Live Nation President/CEO Michael Rapino was the highest paid CEO in California last year, according to a survey of the top-paid CEOs by state for 2017 as calculated by The Associated Press and executive data firm Equilar. 

Only one CEO was ranked above Rapino –  First Data’s Frank J. Bisignano at $102.2 million. The company, which provides credit card processing services for businesses and financial institutions, is headquartered in Atlanta.

Other CEOs included in the roundup include AT&T’s Randall L. Stephenson at $25.6 million (Texas), CBS’ Leslie Moonves at $68.4 million (New York), Johnson & Johnson’s Alex Gorsky at $23 million (New Jersey) and Walmart’s C. Douglas McMillon at $22.8 million (Arkansas). 

The survey, which released its results May 25, was limited to publicly traded companies that had more than $1 billion in revenue and filed their proxy statements with federal regulators between Jan. 1 and April 30, as well as CEOs who had been at the helm for at least two years. CEO pay was calculated based on salary, bonus, stock awards, stock option awards, deferred compensation, and other benefits and perks.  

Rapino’s 2017 earnings include $58.6 million in stock options, a base salary of $2.4 million and a $1 million bonus for Live Nation achieving its goals for adjusted operating income on the year, according to documents filed by LN with the U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission and previously reported by Pollstar. His pay dramatically increased from 2016, when he earned $10.4 million total including $574,992 in stock options. 

Live Nation’s share price has soared 75% over the last two years, compared to the S&P500’s 27%, and 25% over the last 12 months. 

Taking a look at the 2017 earnings of other California-based CEOs, Walt Disney’s Robert A. Iger earned $36.3 million, Ebay’s Devin N. Wenig earned $17.7 million, Chevron’s John S. Watson earned $21.8 million, and Wells Fargo’s Timothy J. Sloan earned $17.5 million, according to the Equilar 200 Highest-Paid CEO Rankings, reported by the New York Times. The Top 200 list didn’t include major Golden State companies such as Apple or Facebook. Apple CEO Tim Cook earned roughly $12.8 million in 2017 and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg earned nearly $8.9 million last year, according to the companies’ respective proxy statements.