Millions In Bonuses Approved For iHeart Executives

21

As iHeart inches closer to a restructure, possibly within days, the iHeartCommunications Compensation Committee has approved millions of dollars in bonuses for three iHeart executives: CEO Bob Pittman, COO Richard Bressler, and General Counsel Robert Walls. Here are the details…

The Compensation Committee approved a bonus for CEO Bob Pittman, under a new 2018Bob_Pittman16 Key Incentive Bonus Plan, in which Pittman will be eligible to earn a bonus for each calendar quarter of 2018 of $2,325 million. The committee approved payment of Pittman’s quarterly bonus for the period ending March 31, 2018; provided that Pittman is required to repay the after-tax value of the bonus if he were to be terminated for “cause” or voluntarily resign without “good reason” before March 31, 2019. In addition, the Compensation Committee accelerated the payments of bonuses Pittman’s previously earned during 2016 ($500,000) and 2017 ($500,000) under the iHeartMedia 2015 Supplemental Incentive Plan.

Over to COO Richard Bressler. The Compensation Committee approved a bonus opportunity for Bressler, under the 2018 KEIP, in which Bressler will be eligible to earn a Quarterly Bonus for each calendar quarter of 2018 of $1.325 million. The Compensation Committee approved payment of Bressler’s Quarterly Bonus for the period ending March 31, 2018; provided that Bressler is required to repay the after-tax value of the Quarterly Bonus if he were to be terminated for “cause” or voluntarily resign without “good reason” before March 31, 2019. In addition, the Compensation Committee accelerated the payments of bonuses Bressler previously earned during 2016 ($500,000) and 2017 ($500,000) under the SIP.

General Council Robert Walls will receive a $225,000 bonus opportunity in every quarter of 2018, under the 2018 KEIP program. And the Compensation Committee approved payment of Walls’ Quarterly Bonus for the period ending March 31, 2018; provided that Walls is required to repay the after-tax value of the Quarterly Bonus if he were to be terminated for “cause” or voluntarily resign without “good reason” before March 31, 2019.

iHeart has been attempting to restructure over $20 billion in debt. On February 1 the company decided to skip a $106 million interest payment that was due today on its 2021 outstanding Senior Notes. That set off a 30-day grace period to make the interest payment before an event of default is triggered. That 30 days is about to end and some analysts are predicting the company may file for Chapter 11 any day now.

21 COMMENTS

  1. Bob Pittman is the biggest fraud in US business over the last 30+ years. He has literally been at the helm of scores of failures and produced nothing but bonuses. Moron lenders r too scared to find new mgmt. But, no respectable company would ever hire this loser now! He is known to do lots of drugs and cheat on his wife Veronique Choa Pittman endlessly!

  2. Well, once again, radio proves to be the pyramid scheme it’s been since 1996.

    When you have bankers who are your buds in one pocket and morons who have access to said bankers, you get assholes like these piece of shit slobs running it.

    Pittman and the rest of this debris we never visionairies, never geniuses, just wired into clowns who wrote articles about how great they were.

    Could care less, let’ em rot and half the people in radio have no clue about the industry they’re in either not much sympathy for you either. You’ve all worshiped such mediocre people, many of you sold your soul for jobs and are no better than the clowns you covered for or swallowed for to get a promotion. You’re spineless.

    I left the industry years ago to go where I wouldn’t have to deal with clowns like these weasels or moron employees worshiping the facade and glad I did.

    The online world has been much better to me and allowed me to do things you could never do in radio because frankly, there’s no creativity left there nor is there a brain with vision worth saving.

  3. My clients here in Denver are concerned more about Liberty Media taking over and getting rid of their current radio hosts the endorse them. Interesting days coming up for radio for sure.

  4. There are so many scummers in radio especially Iheartradio. Sales weasels will outright lie about their ratings stations with low ratings and the hosts lie on the air . iheart is 22 billion in debt because they keep the low rated stations low rated hosts on the air. Whats the point of them being on radio if nobody’s listening. Bob Pittman is a disgusting weasel Why isn’t the mainstream media reporting this more widely. the slimy CEO’s always get away Google-“top 10 jobs psychopaths are attracted to” CEO tops the list.

  5. It seems strange that the people who lose the beans get bonuses, but the people who make the beans and the people who own the beans get nothing. Doesn’t seem right.

  6. CRIMINAL! Meanwhile, commissions get slashed for regular iHeart sales people and layoffs are coming too. Pittman is the biggest fraud in US business history. I hope they put him in a cell next to Bernie Madoff. This

  7. Here’s food for thought… between the three names stated in the filing, in 2018 $15,500,000. in bonuses will be paid….

    Assuming approximately 15,000 employees at iHeartMedia, give each person a $1000. bonus, we would still be $500,000 ahead………………Jack is right, most of us have seen nothing (or almost nothing) in 8 years.

    I realize the debt is not the doing of Bob or Rich, but to see them hugely rewarded, for just basically doing their jobs, is pretty tough for us local people to swallow.

    Just a thought anyway.

    • Read the article. They only are ELLIGIBLE for those bonuses, and they are eligible IF they meet certain targets. Obviously the board and the lenders want to keep them on staff after the bankruptcy.

      • Good point BigA… that the Board wants to keep/protect Pittman and Bressler. But you have to wonder why! IHeart revenues have been basically flat or anemic growth for years… they’ve developed zero new dynamic radio personalities or stations… the IHeart app is not a money-maker at all… if the Board of Directors was focused more on growing the company and less on protecting Pittman, you’d think they would have already made changes at the top. IHeart desperately needs young, new dynamic leadership at the top.

        • Once they get out from under the debt, they can start investing in the future. They have a lot of young group heads who can step up to the plate. They have just added some great former CBS stations in Seattle and Boston. The CEO & COO have been incentivized to grow the restructured company. From what I see here, they’ll have a year to make some changes and meet new goals.

          • The Big A

            You should write a column for us on how you believe this is going to work out for them. I sent you an e-mail about this but, not surprisingly, it came back undeliverable.

            Ed Ryan
            Editor
            Radio Ink

  8. “These idiots receive millions in bonus money for driving iHeart into the ground”

    FYI These are not the people who drove the company into the ground. The people who drive it into the ground were Lowry & Mark Mays. These are the guys who brought it back from the dead. The lenders approved the bonuses.

    • No matter if they drove it in the ground or not if the company you work for is in financial trouble, layoffs, bankruptcy, whatever…you don’t collect a bonus and maybe take a cut in pay. Is that so hard to understand?

      • Read the article. The bonuses aren’t for the bankruptcy. They’re for meeting certain target numbers AFTER the bankruptcy. It’s an INCENTIVE plan. Understand? The headline is misleading.

  9. These idiots receive millions in bonus money for driving iHeart into the ground, screwing those who gave iHeart credit and confirming how completely incompetent they are.

    They are the poster boys of clueless and, as iHeart is doing to its creditors, should be cut off from any bonus compensation for their abysmal performance, fired and banned from anything to do with media.

    Not only bad for iHeart business, they are bad for radio and should not be allowed to work within or near the industry they had their hands in destroying.

    There are thousands of hard-working, professionals who invested their souls in radio for a comparative pittance and now these jerks are rewarded millions for the disaster they created and perpetuated until it came to its current DOA status?

    In a word ‘no.’ Or in two words, you fill in the blanks …

  10. Pittman, Bressler, and the Board better be real careful here. Paying and receiving these types of extravagant bonuses on the eve of Bankruptcy could easily be argued in Bankruptcy Court as fraudulent conveyance. That is a serious criminal matter and could create big problems for IHeart, especially if they are hoping to persuade the Trustee to go along with a “Pre Packaged” bankruptcy.

  11. Contrary to all the mewling, innocuous hype from radio’s sycophants over the last few years, maybe God isn’t Bob, after all.
    Still – not a bad living.

  12. Business as usual (in the red). As long as the company can get away with finding more ways in borrowing money, nothing will change. Chapter 7 may be in I-Heart’s future.

  13. millions of dollars as a reward for driving a compan6 into the ground. Incredible. Pittman has to be the most skilled snake-oil salesman in history.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here