TKO Group, the parent of WWE and UFC, disclosed the pay of its top executives — with Ari Emanuel, who serves as executive chair and CEO, taking a big hit in his 2024 compensation, while president and COO Mark Shapiro‘s pay nearly doubled.
Note that TKO Group is majority-owned by Endeavor Group Holdings, now a privately held company under a deal with private-equity firm Silver Lake that closed last month. Emanuel — who got a $173.8 million cash payout under the Endeavor go-private deal — is now executive chairman of WME Group, the new public-facing name. Shapiro is president and managing partner of that company.
Emanuel’s total pay package from TKO Group for 2024 was $18.1 million, which included a $4.29 million bonus, $2.5 million in stock and $8.21 million in “non-equity incentive plan” compensation. That’s compared with $64.9 million in 2023, a total that included a $24 million cash bonus and stock awards worth $40 million.
Shapiro’s compensation from TKO Group in 2024 was $31.96 million, which included based salary of $4 million, a $8.2 million bonus and $19.57 million in stock awards.
With the go-private deal, Endeavor Group Holdings retains its controlling ownership stake of about 60.9% in TKO Group, which comprises UFC, WWE, IMG, On Location and PBR and remains publicly traded on the NYSE. The next largest shareholder in the company after Endeavor Group/Silver Lake is Vince McMahon, former CEO of WWE, who owns 9.8% of the company’s Class A shares and holds 4.1% voting power.
Last October, TKO announced a deal with Endeavor to acquire PBR, On Location and IMG’s sports marketing business in an all-stock transaction valued at $3.25 billion.
According to WWE, WrestleMania 41, held April 19-20 in Las Vegas, was the highest-grossing event in its history. It attracted 124,693 fans over two nights and was the most-viewed WrestleMania of all time, up 114% from last year, according to WWE.
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