SiriusXM Names Apollo Theater Foundation CEO Jonelle Procope To Board, Expands Stock Buyback

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read

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Sirius XM Holdings has named Jonelle Procope, CEO of New York’s nonprofit Apollo Theater Foundation, as a new independent member of its board of directors.

The foundation operates the iconic Apollo Theater and offers educational summer internship programs and school seminars. Procope, who began her career as a lawyer at Skadden, Arps, previously held legal and business affairs positions at Viacom International, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Blackground Records, an independent record label.

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She is on the boards of New York Public Radio, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Gracie Mansion Conservancy and the 125th Street Business Improvement District.

Gregory Maffei, SiriusXM chairman, called Procope “a proven executive with tremendous entertainment experience, strong industry relationships and deep business expertise…. We are pleased to welcome her to the SiriusXM Board and look forward to benefiting from her perspectives.”

Procope praised SiriusXM for “cultivating the best content, elevating talent and expanding its capabilities to capture new opportunities. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on the board to build on SiriusXM’s successes and continue its momentum.”

SiriusXM separately Tuesday said its board approved an additional $2 billion of common stock repurchases, taking the company’s total authorization to $16 billion since the program started in 2013. The company will fund the repurchases through cash on hand, future cash flow from operations and future borrowing. Investors like buybacks, which boost the share price. SiriusXM stock was up nearly 2.5% in after-hours trading Tuesday.

The extension of the repurchase program reflects “a desire to continue to return value to stockholders” and confidence in its long-term growth prospects, SiriusXM said, noting still has sufficient capital capacity to continue making long-term investments in its programming, research and development initiatives and overall operations and to pursue strategic opportunities. Yesterday it announced it’s acquiring podcast company Stitcher from E.W Scripps for $325 million.

SiriusXM also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend (of $0.01331 per share).

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