Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
(e) | Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
On August 8, 2024, the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (the “Company”) approved a new employment agreement for Jon Feltheimer, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (the “Agreement’). The Agreement replaces the Company’s current employment agreement with Mr. Feltheimer, which was originally entered into as of August 21, 2020 and subsequently amended as of August 12, 2022.
The Agreement has a five-year term that is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2029. Pursuant to the Agreement, Mr. Feltheimer receives an annual base salary of $1,500,000 and is eligible to receive an annual performance bonus based on such performance criteria as established by the Committee, with the target bonus commencing with the Company’s 2025 fiscal year being $7,500,000 and the maximum bonus being 200% of the target amount. Any portion of Mr. Feltheimer’s annual bonus that exceeds $1,500,000 for a particular year may be paid to him in the form of fully vested Company common shares. The Agreement also provides for Mr. Feltheimer to participate in the Company’s usual benefit programs for executives at his level, as well as Company-provided life and disability insurance coverage, reasonable club membership dues and limited use of the Company’s private aircraft. The Agreement also provides for Mr. Feltheimer to receive, unless the Committee approves a different long-term incentive structure for senior management for the applicable fiscal year and, subject in each case to approval by the Committee and Mr. Feltheimer’s continued employment through the applicable date of grant, the following equity-based awards for each of the Company’s fiscal years from 2026 through 2029 (the “Annual Grants”): (i) a time-vesting award of restricted share units (“RSUs”) with respect to the Company’s Class B non-voting shares (“Class B Shares”); (ii) a time-vesting award of stock options or share appreciation rights (“SARs”) with respect to the Class B Shares; and (iii) a performance-vesting award of RSUs with respect to the Class B Shares. The aggregate target grant date value of each Annual Grant will be $10,000,000, with the actual value of the Annual Grant to be determined by the Committee each year based on the Company’s financial performance for the prior fiscal year against performance targets to be agreed upon by the Committee and Mr. Feltheimer (the “Annual Grant Value”). The number of shares subject to the three awards comprising each Annual Grant will be determined, in the case of each of the two RSU awards, by dividing one-third of the Annual Grant Value by the closing price of a Class B Share on the date of that Annual Grant and, in the case of the award of options or SARs, by dividing one-third of the Annual Grant Value by the per-share value of the award as of the grant date based on the methodology then used by the Company to value options and similar awards for financial statement purposes. Each Annual Grant will be scheduled to vest in equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the applicable grant date. Each of the Annual Grants will be granted under the Company’s 2023 Performance Incentive Plan or a successor equity compensation plan of the Company. Except as noted below, the vesting of each installment of the Annual Grants is subject to Mr. Feltheimer’s continued employment through the applicable vesting date. In addition, the vesting of the performance-based RSU Annual Grants is contingent on achievement of performance metrics to be determined by the Committee for the 12-month period ending on the applicable vesting date. The Agreement provides that each of the Annual Grants described above may be settled in Class B Shares, the Company’s Class A voting shares, cash, or a combination thereof, as determined by the Committee, with the amount of the payment in each case determined based on the value of the Class B Shares at the time of payment (less the applicable exercise price in the case of options and SARs).
In the event Mr. Feltheimer’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause or by him for good reason (as such terms are defined in the Agreement), he would be entitled to a cash severance payment equal to the present value of his base salary through July 31, 2029, as well as Company payment of his premiums for continued health coverage for up to 18 months (or such longer period as provided by state law) following his termination and his premiums for continued life and disability insurance through