Ari Emanuel 2023 TKO pay package: $65 million

Arie Emmanuel

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Endeavor’s $21 billion deal to merge the UFC with the WWE and create TKO Group Holdings last year created a live sports powerhouse. The deal, orchestrated by the Ari Emanuel-led holding company, also provided rich compensation packages for top executives.

Emanuel took home a package worth nearly $65 million last year, including a $911,538 salary (it’s prorated to reflect only September 12, 2023 through the end of the year), a $24 million bonus and $40 million in stock awards, per TKO’s 2023 proxy filing was announced Wednesday.

As always with CEO pay packages (including Emanuel’s $300 million-plus package in 2021), that number depends on whether the company hits key numbers and whether its stock price continues to rise.

TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro earned a package worth $16.1 million last year, while CFO Andrew Schleimer took home an $8.8 million package. WWE President Nick Khan, who is also a company board member, earned $32 million in compensation.

TKO will soon be Endeavor’s only exposure to the public markets, with Endeavor’s core holding company going public in a $13 billion deal with Silver Lake. That deal specifies that Endeavor’s controlling interest in TKO will not be sold.

And the proxy comes during the few months that TKO brought.

In January, the company signed a 10-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix Rawand added Dwayne Johnson to the board of directors.

However, shortly afterwards, the company’s chairman, Vince McMahon, resigned from the board after a sex trafficking lawsuit was filed against him.

According to the proxy, McMahon was paid $376,323 in 2023 for his work as an executive at the company, before his tenure as director.