Lionsgate Extends CEO Jon Feltheimer’s Contract
Lionsgate has extended the contract of longtime chief executive officer Jon Feltheimer three months, now expiring on Aug. 21, 2023, with options to push it into 2024 or 2025.
Feltheimer has been CEO of the entertainment conglomerate since 2000, teaming with vice chairman Michael Burns during the subsequent two decades. He will turn 69 in September.
His contract was previously set to expire on May 22, 2023. It can now be extended to either Aug. 21, 2024 or Aug. 21, 2025. The company made the disclosure Wednesday in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It said the board’s compensation committee approved a new employment agreement on Aug. 21 for Feltheimer, replacing the agreement from 2013, which was amended in 2016.
Feltheimer’s new deal will pay him at the same compensation level. Lionsgate disclosed in a proxy filing last month that Feltheimer’s compensation for the fiscal year that ended March 31 had increased from $6.6 million to $11.07 million, due to a $6.3 million bonus.
The board of directors has also approved an award to Feltheimer of share appreciation rights of 2 million of Class B non-voting shares with an exercise price of $8.17 and will vest in one installment on Aug. 21, 2023, subject to Feltheimer’s continued employment.
On. Aug. 6, Lionsgate reported earnings of $51.1 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenues of $813.7 million for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30 — numbers that were above Wall Street estimates — despite the lack of revenues from the film business amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Shares of Lionsgate have risen over the past month, closing at $9.43 on Wednesday.
Feltheimer also announced on Aug. 6 that Lionsgate was expanding two of its key franchises, with a fifth “John Wick” movie and “Dirty Dancing” reboot. He said “John Wick 4” is slated to hit theaters Memorial Day weekend 2022 with plans to shoot “John Wick 4” and “John Wick 5” back to back when Keanu Reeves becomes available early next year.
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