Astroworld Organizer’s CEO Could Get Massive Golden Parachute

The CEO of Reside Nation, one of many organizers of final week’s lethal Astroworld music festival, may doubtlessly snag a nine-figure golden parachute even when the fallout prices him his job.

In accordance with public filings, chief govt Michael Rapino’s exit bundle was price $168 million as of the top of final 12 months, together with accelerated inventory choice awards, medical advantages, and greater than $40 million in severance.

That quantity would doubtless now be significantly greater, as Reside Nation’s inventory is buying and selling near an all-time excessive, regardless of a modest downturn following the pageant.

Rapino stood to obtain the total stability of his exit bundle if he give up for “good cause” or was fired “with out trigger,” the filings stated. These phrases seemingly go away some room for interpretation. “Trigger” would come with ​​”Mr. Rapino’s willful and continued failure to carry out his materials duties” or willful misconduct that precipitated “materials and demonstrable damage, monetarily or in any other case,” to Reside Nation.

There’s at the moment no indication that Rapino will give up or be compelled out, although investigations into the occasion are nonetheless unfolding.

Rapino and Reside Nation didn’t reply to requests for remark. [Disclosure: Barry Diller, the chairman of IAC, which owns The Daily Beast, served as Live Nation’s chairman until 2010.]

In a statement posted to his Twitter account on Monday, Rapino stated, “Many households are coping with the unimaginable proper now and my coronary heart goes out to them and the whole Astroworld neighborhood. We’re devoted to doing every little thing we are able to to get the households and followers the solutions and assist they deserve.”

Greater than a dozen lawsuits have already rained down on Astroworld’s organizers, together with Reside Nation, and the musical artist Travis Scott, who continued performing for nearly 40 minutes after the mayhem started. He additionally reportedly partied at Dave & Buster’s even after the present had ended.

A supply instructed TMZ that Scott discovered of the casualties in the course of the after-party, at which level he left. Beforehand, he launched a press release saying he was “completely devastated by what occurred” at Astroworld and pledged to pay for the victims’ funeral prices.

Within the days because the pageant, different allegations have piled up: that Scott has been identified to egg on crowds, and that he inspired Astroworld attendees to make the “floor shake” even after acknowledging an ambulance within the crowd.

Organizers have additionally been accused of hiring safety guards that have been inexperienced and undertrained.

“In case you have a look at my resume, I solely have hospitality and retail expertise,” one of many occasion’s safety guards—employed by an organization referred to as Up to date Providers Company— instructed Rolling Stone. “It felt like they only wanted our bodies, like they have been hiring anybody who handed a background take a look at.”

If blowback finally prices Rapino his job, he may be a part of a roster of CEOs who obtained huge payouts even whereas embroiled in scandal or controversy.

Starting in 2014, shortly after Mary Barra took over as chief govt of Common Motors, the corporate was compelled to recall tens of millions of vehicles over a defective ignition swap that finally precipitated greater than 100 deaths. (Barra has stated she was unaware of the security difficulty when she took over the function.)

In 2015, the corporate paid $900 million to the federal government as a part of a non-prosecution settlement, through which it admitted that it had misled shoppers and regulators.

Irrespective of—between 2014 and 2016, Barra’s complete pay eclipsed $67 million, filings present.

One other transportation exec, former Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in late 2019 over two airplane crashes involving its 737 MAX airliner. He left with upwards of $60 million in inventory and pension awards.

The sample extends throughout industries. To many observers, Jeff Immelt bungled the highest job at Common Electrical. When he left in 2017, his retirement bundle was pegged at $211 million.

Maybe most famously, WeWork founder Adam Neumann pocketed a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} as a part of an settlement that permit the corporate transfer on with out him in 2019. That included $200 million in cash, The Wall Avenue Journal reported.

As for Rapino, on the onset of the pandemic he obtained extensive acclaim after Reside Nation introduced that he was “voluntarily forgoing 100% of his wage” for an unspecified period of time. A number of media outlets took that to imply the rest of 2020.

That wasn’t the case—and it appears the corporate didn’t proactively appropriate the misunderstanding.

In accordance with filings, the board reinstated half of Rapino’s wage in June 2021, then upped it to 60 p.c three months later, at the same time as the corporate reportedly continued to furlough employees.

Selection first reported on the mix-up, lamenting that it too had given Rapino undue “reward.”

Both method, as of this April, Rapino’s wage had returned to regular.