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Live Nation CEO Dumps 40% of His Stock, $12 Million Cashout…

Paul Resnikoff
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Steve Jobs made a salary of $1, and left billions worth of Apple shares un-cashed.  Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation, makes a base salary of several million (guaranteed), and just dumped $11.7 million in shares.

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Apple was one of the most successful and innovative companies in the history of mankind, minting hundreds of billions in investor gains.  Live Nation has lost about a billion dollars over the past seven years.

Any questions?

The confidence-killing cashout, finalized this week, covers some 640,000 shares of LYV, valued at roughly $18.40 apiece.  Rapino now holds slightly more than a million shares in the company, nearly a 40 percent shave.

Updated: LYV shares dropped nearly 5 percent by the closing bell, the largest decrease of the year, following Rapino’s dump-off.  Separately, Live Nation PR person Jacqueline Peterson says the move was motivated by Rapino’s ‘estate-planning’ needs (oddly enough, Rapino just purchased this $14.7mm ‘estate’ in Brentwood).  

Update 2: Others, including board members Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, are also cashing in shares (for much smaller amounts).  More ahead! 

The move comes immediately after the Live Nation CEO fired Ticketmaster president Nathan Hubbard, for reasons that remain mostly unclear.  The latest report, issued by the New York Times, says that Hubbard is close to signing a termination agreement, and is leaving a massive Ticketmaster platform transition unfinished.

5 Responses

  1. GGG

    Pretty sure Jobs an had annual dividend payout from Disney of like $40M, so at that point Apple very clearly was a passion project. Not that that changes your point here, I guess, but still.

  2. Yves Villeneuve

    When you sell that much stock when his salary could have covered it, he obviously believes stock price (company revenue/profit) upside is very limited, at least short to intermediate term.

    He may buy back on a significant price dip, which he helped manufacture through his stock sale. Possible Wall Street games to create a buyout opportunity?

  3. Means Nothing

    Everytime this happens, everyone thinks there is something to it. In many cases, it’s part of a larger financial plan, timed on something else entirely or for other reasons entirely separate from the health of LN.

    While you may be right, you just as likely are wrong and there is nothing to infer from this at all.

    • Chris

      It’s really sad because I think you guys at Live Nation actually believe your own bullshit, as long as you get that paycheck every 2 weeks along with health and dental benefits.

      It makes no sense that staff people make $35000 a year while the top guy makes $35000000.

      Then again maybe you don’t have the Chutzpah to get a job where the CEO isn’t raping and pillageing and the CEO only succeeds if they company is profitable. Companies with fearing yes men like that and no trust can never really succeed in the long run.