{"id":179964,"date":"2025-08-19T12:14:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/08\/19\/musics-top-money-makers-who-are-the-highest-paid-executives\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T12:14:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:14:53","slug":"musics-top-money-makers-who-are-the-highest-paid-executives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/08\/19\/musics-top-money-makers-who-are-the-highest-paid-executives\/","title":{"rendered":"Music\u2019s Top Money Makers: Who Are the Highest-Paid\u00a0Executives?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tUniversal Music Group chairman\/CEO Lucian Grainge<\/strong> topped Billboard\u2019s list of best-paid music executives for the third time in four years \u2014 but just barely.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2024, Grainge was paid $39.6 million, about $2.5 million more than SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz<\/strong>, who leaped to No. 2 with earnings of $37.1 million thanks to stock and option awards tied to a new employment contract that boosted her total earnings fivefold over the previous two years. Billboard<\/em> expanded this year\u2019s list, which includes only named executive officers from publicly traded companies, from 10 to 20. <\/p>\n

\n\tGrainge\u2019s 2024 earnings were low compared with the previous three years \u2014 although his pay for two of those years was based on extraordinary circumstances. In 2021<\/a>, Grainge\u2019s $258.1 million worth of bonuses \u2014 all paid by former parent company Vivendi \u2014 pushed his total earnings to $308.2 million. The following year<\/a>, his earnings returned to a more normal $49.7 million before surging to $150.3 million in 2023<\/a>, due mainly to a $100 million \u201ctransition award\u201d that moved him from all-cash compensation to a mix of cash and equity that\u2019s typical for public company executives.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t2025 Q2 Earnings: Here\u2019s What Every Music Company\u00a0Made\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tWitz, the best-paid of the three women on the list, leapfrogged other executives on the 2024 ranking thanks to a boost from stock options worth $16.5 million that will vest in equal parts over three years. She was also given $16.2 million in stock awards (both stock units based on performance and restricted units that vest over time), nonequity plan compensation of $2.1 million and other compensation of $258,000.<\/p>\n

\n\tWitz is consistently one of music\u2019s best-paid executives despite SiriusXM\u2019s bumpy road since she became CEO in 2021. Facing stiff competition from streaming services and slowing growth in satellite subscribers, the company laid off staff in 2023 and 2024 as revenue and self-pay subscribers dropped in both years. Losing ground cost Witz and other SiriusXM executives. In 2024, SiriusXM missed the minimum thresholds for two of the three annual bonus performance metrics, according to the company\u2019s latest proxy statement. In total, executives met 43% of their target annual bonuses, and the compensation committee gave Witz just 35% of her annual bonus.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe money that executives actually pocket greatly depends on the performance of their companies\u2019 stock price, and Witz\u2019s latest contract is no different. The options she received in 2024 are currently \u201cout of the money,\u201d or below their exercise price. Her stock options have a $51.40 exercise price, but SiriusXM\u2019s share price has fallen to $20.90 (as of Aug. 12), meaning it needs to gain approximately 150% for Witz\u2019s options to pay off.<\/p>\n

\n\tSiriusXM chief content officer Scott Greenstein<\/strong> could do far better with his stock options and performance-related stock awards. The No. 5 executive on the list with total pay of $21.8 million, Greenstein received stock options worth $8.3 million that carry a $27.40 exercise price, meaning SiriusXM shares need to increase just 31% for his options to have value. He was also given $10.4 million in stock awards.<\/p>\n