Jim Murren to receive $32M exit package from MGM
Jim Murren is set to receive a nearly $32 million exit package from MGM Resorts International.
A regulatory filing Friday said the 58-year-old CEO and chairman, who announced his resignation Wednesday, entered a transition agreement on Tuesday. His employment contract originally went through the end of 2021.
Murren’s exit package awards him a continuation of his current $2 million annual salary, a $4 million cash fixed bonus at the end of 2020, a $7 million equity award and a $12 million severance payment.
Additionally, Murren is set to receive $575,000 each month in 2021 — $6.9 million total — for providing consulting services to MGM.
He has also agreed to uphold a non-compete agreement through the end of 2022, one year after his consulting period ends, and is set to work as a senior adviser in the time between his resignation and the end of 2020.
In all, Murren is set to receive $31.9 million over the next two years.
Murren took over as CEO and chairman in 2008. He will remain active in both roles until a successor is chosen.
As head of the company, Murren had received an annual base salary of $2 million. His last reported bonus in 2018 was $3,148,814. He also owned 262,705 MGM shares that year.
Former Caesars Entertainment Corp. CEO Mark Frissora was provided a $30 million exit package by his company when he left in 2019.
Frissora, who had a salary of $2 million a year when he was Caesars’ top executive but earned more in bonuses and stock options, was given severance of $8 million and bonuses and stock. He also was retained as a consultant and paid $83,333 a month for six months, according to a 2019 SEC filing.
“It’s hard to say if (Murren’s exit package is) the norm since Frissora was with the company for only about three years,” said David Schwartz, a professor and gaming historian for UNLV.
In another high-profile executive departure, former Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts Ltd. received no compensation from the company after he resigned in February 2018 in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. However, he sold 4.1 million Wynn stock shares for $180 a share to the public and 8 million shares for $175 a share in a private sale to two other stockholders a month after he left the company.
MGM shares closed down 0.9 percent to $31.52 Friday.
Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter. Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.