Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer’s Pay Rises to $21.5M

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer saw his total compensation jump to $21.5 million for fiscal 2023, according to the company’s latest proxy filing disclosed Friday.

That’s up from fiscal 2022 when Feltheimer received $5.6 million in total pay, and the $19.1 million he earned as part of his overall compensation package for fiscal 2021. Feltheimer’s 2023 compensation included an unchanged $1.5 million base salary, compared to the two prior years.

And his bonus last year rose to $10 million, from a bonus of $2.8 million in fiscal 2022 and a $10 million bonus for 2021. Feltheimer again received no option awards last year as in fiscal 2022.

That was against $6.7 million in option awards received for fiscal 2021. But his stock awards for fiscal 2023 rose to $9.75 million, compared to a year-earlier $1 million in stock awards and $700,000 in fiscal 2021.

Feltheimer in August 2020 extended his long-term employment agreement, keeping him at the Hollywood studio potentially to August 2025. His latest pay package follows the media giant pushing the timing for a spin off of its studio business to the first quarter of 2024, due in part to the recent acquisition of producer Entertainment One and the impact of the dual Hollywood strikes.

Lionsgate is exploring its options for Starz, including a possible separation of the pay TV and streaming business and its studio operations. The goal will be creating two standalone companies so investors can value the Starz and studio assets separately as part of a transaction at last count was set to be unveiled by the end of September.

Lionsgate vice-chairman Michael Burns also saw his overall compensation package swell last year, to $10.1 million, against total pay at $4.4 million in fiscal 2022. Lionsgate CFO Jimmy Barge had the same trajectory, as he received $10.87 million in overall pay in fiscal 2023, compared to a year-earlier $6.45 million, while studio COO Brian Goldsmith saw his total pay rise to $6.6 million in fiscal 2023, against $5.44 million a year-earlier.

Lionsgate will hold its annual meeting of shareholders at its office in Vancouver on Nov. 28, 2023.