Newly spun-off Lionsgate has extended longtime CEO John Feltheimer’s contract for another two years, through July 31, 2031.
On April 13, Lionsgate’s compensation committee approved a new employment agreement with the studio president to keep him as CEO for another two years, the studio said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday.
Feltheimer has served as CEO of the Hollywood studio since March 2000 alongside Vice Chairman Michael Burns, after spending nine years at Sony Pictures where he worked on popular shows such as Crazy about you, nanny, Dawsons Creek and Party of Five.
His latest contact calls for Feltheimer’s base salary to remain the same for 10 years at $1.5 million. He will also be granted stock options worth between $17 and $22 per share as part of a management incentive package.
Lionsgate shares closed Wednesday at $10.66, down 43 cents, or 4 percent, on the day. But the company’s stock closed at a 52-week high of $11.40 last week. Lionsgate, which recently became an independent company after splitting from Starz, is the studio behind it John Wick, Hunger Games And other movie franchises.
The studio achieved box office momentum the maidand it has Michael, The Michael Jackson biopic will be released next week. On the television side, Lionsgate has had great success studio and Hunting wives.
Lionsgate is often touted as a potential entrant in the current round of industry consolidation. “We believe world-class intellectual property has never been more valuable, and you certainly see validation of premium content when you have these deep-pocketed players going after Warner Bros. We don’t know who this is going to end up with, but we think this is the first domino to fall,” Michael Burns, the studio’s vice president, told analysts in early February.
