Ari Emanuel Saw $65 Million Pay Package Last Year As CEO Of TKO Group

Ari Emanuel, CEO of TKO Group as well as the soon-to-be-private Endeavor, saw a pay package valued at $64.9 million in 2023 as CE0 of TKO Group, the home of WWE and UFC. TKO is a relatively new company that started trading on the New York Stock Exchange last September.

Emanuel’s compensation included a $911k base salary, a cash bonus of $24 million, and stock awards valued at $40 million.

TKO chief operating officer Mark Shapiro’s package totaled $16 million for last year, according to TKO’s proxy statement filed with the SEC last year. Shapiro holds the same role at Endeavor.

The compensation committee noted revenue, adjusted ebitda gains, cost reduction, strong turnout for UFC and WWE live events, and a set of media rights deals for WWE, including a long-term deal with Netflix. “The effective leadership of our named executive officers was critical to our success in achieving these financial results and strategic activity milestones and, as a result, was a key factor when establishing incentive compensation levels and determining the compensation for our named executive officers for 2023,” the proxy said.

TKO was created with Endeavor-owned UFC, the mixed martial arts powerhouse, merged with Vince McMahon’s professional wresting juggernaut WWE. Endeavor initially owned 51% of the new company with WWE shareholders, led by Vince McMahon holding the rest. In November, McMahon sold about one third of his stake. The pro wrestling impresario, who built the WWE into a lucrative global business and cultural force over more than four decades, was chairman of the TKO board. He exited abruptly early this year after a graphic lawsuit by a former employee accused him of sex trafficking and sexual assault. In April, he sold another chunk of TKO stock Endeavor.

TKO houses Endeavor’s most valuable live sports assets in UFC and will stay public even as parent Endeavor is in the process of going private. The equity value of the deal, led by Endeavor investor Silver Lake, was pegged at $13 billion. Emanuel will be getting a one of Endeavor’s private planes as part of that transaction. Endeavor will look at asset sales across its divisions, excluding TKO Group.