CW Parent Nexstar Media Group Reports $39.3M In Total 2022 Pay For CEO Perry Sook

Dade Hayes
·2 min read

Perry Sook, who has led Nexstar Media Group from humble beginnings two-plus decades ago to its current status as the top owner of TV stations and the parent of The CW, made $39.3 million in 2022.

The CEO’s total compensation package included a $33 million stock grant, according to an SEC filing. Sook’s total pay in 2021 came to $21.1 million. No other exec listed in the filing took home more than $2.8 million in 2022.

More from Deadline

The company’s stock, which managed to be one of the few in the media sector to gain ground in a grueling 2022, has gone up about 15% over the past two years. At $173.45 as of Friday’s close, it has risen more than tenfold since the company’s IPO back in 2003. Sook founded the company in 1996 with one TV station in Scranton, PA.

Nexstar, which has grown through a series of acquisitions, pulled off a splashy one last fall. It gained 75% control of the CW after former 50-50 partners Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery divested of all but 12.5% stakes apiece in the network. Nexstar paid no cash or stock upfront in the deal, instead agreeing to absorb most of the debt of the CW. The company has overhauled the network’s programming and has embarked on an aggressive three-year plan to achieve profitability.

Along with the CW and local stations, Nexstar has a 31% stake in the Food Network (equity involved in the 2019 Tribune Media acquisition) as well as digital assets like The Hill and cable network NewsNation.

Nexstar will report its first-quarter earnings on May 9 and hold its annual shareholder meeting on June 15.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.