Live Nation CEO to Forgo $3 Million Base Salary, Execs Take Pay Cuts

By Jem Aswad

Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino emailed his staff Tuesday detailing plans for issuing refunds to ticket buyers, including news the company was expanding its refund offer to fans who bought tickets for events that have not yet been rescheduled.

A coalition of the top concert promoters, venue managers and show producers have joined forces to request federal aid for the live entertainment industry as it faces an existential crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic.Billboard obtained a copy of the memo, which calls on Congress to expand the Paycheck Protection Act to entertainment companies with 500 or fewer employees, as well as an expansion of loans to mid-sized businesses under the CARES Act and the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending

Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF)'s $500 million purchase of a 5.7% stake in Live Nation on the open market Monday (April 27) could indicate a more passive play for the entertainment business since the country has been largely shunned over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October.The gruesome murder was allegedly ordered by Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to reports by U.S.

The government of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has acquired a 5.7 percent stake in Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster.The Saudi Public Investment Fund disclosed the stake, comprising 12,337,569, shares in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday morning.Based on Live Nation’s share prices as of this writing, the investment is valued at just shy of $500 million.

The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, recently purchased a large stake in Live Nation Entertainment, the world’s largest live-entertainment company, according to SEC filings released Monday.

By Jill Goldsmith

The promotion giant previously said that refunds wouldn't be available until a new date was announced for postponed gigs

By Jem Aswad

Fans who purchased tickets to a canceled Live Nation show at one of the company's venues will have a chance to get a full refund or accept a 150% credit toward a new ticket for a future date and part of a newly-announced ticket relief program.

John Malone's Liberty Media said Thursday it was re-attributing its 33 percent stake in Live Nation Entertainment, along with other assets, from its Formula One Group to its SiriusXM tracking stock. The changes bring the live event and music company stake under the umbrella of audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, while strengthening the liquidity of racing circuit Formula One.

While baseball fans nationwide are dismayed about missing opening day and wondering whether this season will happen, the league and major ticket sales sites are facing a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit from fans who want their tickets refunded."While many businesses across this country have acted lawfully and ethically by providing consumers with refunds for events that will never occur during this pandemic, sometimes at the risk of bankruptcy, it remains notable that America’s pastime

By Bruce Haring

By Jem Aswad

By Nellie Andreeva

Roc Nation, the multifaceted management-label-publishing company established as a partnership between Jay-Z and Live Nation, was hit with multiple furloughs and pay cuts last month that extend across as much as half the company, multiple sources confirm to Variety.

With the live events industry facing an uncertain future, Live Nation president/CEO Michael Rapino will forego his salary, part of a variety of cost-cutting measures the events promoter is implementing to save $500 million by the end of 2020. Live Nation will cut salaries for senior executives by up to 50%. Rapino's pay will go from $3 million to zero, president

By Jem Aswad

By Jill Goldsmith

The coronavirus pandemic is upon us and the NHS is striving to cope. With new hospitals popping up across the country, hundreds of thousands of people signing up to be volunteers and many companies doing their bit to support healthcare staff, the one positive that can be drawn is that the crisis is showing the best of human nature.