Live Nation amends Michael Rapino’s deal through 2031 with about $60 million target pay

The board approved the terms unanimously, with Rapino abstaining. Adding the filing’s annual components gives a target package of about $60 million from 2027, a figure Pollstar and EDM also report. The total excludes the $20 million upfront grant.

What the amended agreement contains

The filing sets a $3 million base salary and a $17 million target cash bonus, tied to Live Nation’s adjusted operating income.

Applied to the $60 million total, that split equals $42 million in performance-based pay, $15 million in time-based equity and $3 million in salary. The $42 million matches the sum of the $17 million bonus, the $15 million performance share units and the $10 million restricted performance shares.

Pollstar reports that the earlier contract was set to expire at the end of 2027.

Pollstar also reports that the 2027 salary, bonus and performance share terms are unchanged from Rapino’s 2022 contract. It says the new deal more than doubles his potential compensation, but it does not give his prior total.

It says that the board approved the terms.

Target package of about $60 million from 2027
Adding the filing’s annual components gives a target package of about $60 million from 2027, a figure Pollstar and EDM also report. The total excludes the $20 million upfront grant.

How the equity awards vest

The largest one-time item is an upfront restricted stock unit grant worth $20 million. It vests 40 percent after year one, 20 percent after year two, 20 percent after year three, and 10 percent in each of years four and five.

From 2027, the filing describes two more annual awards. Time-based RSUs worth $15 million vest 20 percent a year over five years.

Performance share units worth $15 million carry a three-year performance period that begins January 1 of the grant year. Payout depends on Live Nation’s total shareholder return relative to S&P 500 companies. The filing sets 200 percent of target at or above the 75th percentile, 100 percent at the 50th, 25 percent at the 25th and zero below that.

Where the reporting differs

Pollstar describes the $20 million upfront grant as stock options that vest over the life of the deal, and gives no schedule. EDM also reports an upfront RSU grant, with 40 percent vesting after the first anniversary. This article follows the filing.

Pollstar says time-based awards vest in 20 percent steps on the anniversary of the deal. That fits the annual RSUs but not the upfront grant’s 40 percent first-year vesting. Pollstar also calls the $15 million time-based awards “time-based stock options” in one place, which conflicts with its own RSU wording.

EDM attributes only its “more than doubles” statement to Pollstar. For the $15 million RSUs, it says Rapino “will reportedly receive” them.

EDM’s subtitle says the deal arrives after a federal jury found that Live Nation is liable for operating an illegal monopoly. Neither the filing nor Pollstar mentions that finding. The body of the EDM article gives no case name, court, verdict date, remedies or appeal status.

What happens next

The first three-year performance period begins January 1, 2027. The upfront grant’s first 40 percent vests after the first year.

As of October 10, 2026, the filing and the two trade reports read for this article show no further statements from Live Nation or Rapino about the package. Neither trade report contains direct quotes from Live Nation or Rapino.

Photo: Coolcaesar · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons