Advanced Television

Sirius-XM rewards CEO Karmazin

April 12, 2012

By Chris Forrester

While the BBC Trust is agonising over whether to pay its next Director General anything more than about £400,000 (c. $620,000) in annual salary and bonus, US pay-radio operator Sirius-XM has rewarded Mel Karmazin, its CEO, a $1.5 million salary plus $9.2 million in bonuses.

His rewards (up 13 per cent) reflect the growth in subscriptions at the radio broadcaster, improved revenues and cash flow, and reduction in the company’s debt burden. Karmazin was president/COO at Viacom prior to joining Sirius-XM.

However, Karmazin isn’t the highest-paid exec. CFO David Frear picks up a breathtaking $20.8 million (up an impressive 520 per cent). In fairness, Frear benefits from a large batch of stock options worth $18.9 million.

Sirius-XM will hold its AGM on May 22.

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