Sirius grants Stern more than $200 million in stock

CBS Marketwatch ^ | 1/5/06 | David B. Wilkerson

[ContemptofCourt]

Sirius sees 6 mln subs by end of '06
XM misses '05 subscriber target
By David B. Wilkerson, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:10 PM ET Jan. 5, 2006

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) - Sirius Satellite Radio, days away from the long-anticipated arrival of popular radio host Howard Stern, said Thursday that it will grant Stern more than 34 million shares of Sirius stock worth nearly $220 million because it exceeded its subscriber target for 2005.

The company said it ended 2005 with 3.32 million subscribers, with a gain of 1.14 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter in the run-up to Stern's debut. It had previously forecast that it would have more than 3 million subscribers.

In a regulatory filing, New York-based Sirius (SIRI: sirius satellite radio inc com News, chart, profile Last: 6.39+0.03+0.47% SIRISIRI6.39, +0.03, +0.5%) said it would deliver the shares for the benefit of Stern and his agent, Don Buchwald. Based on Wednesday's closing stock price of $6.36, the shares granted to Stern would be worth around $220 million.

Stern already has an existing Sirius contract worth $100 million. snip

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[ContemptofCourt]

Love him or hate him (and it seems many FReepers hate him), the guy is a heck of a salesman....and is getting P-A-I-D....

Not that I'd want to be a SIRI shareholder....

[brivette]

Watch the stock tank.

[BipolarBob]

Not that I'd want to be a SIRI shareholder....

Or a subscriber. I'm not paying his bloated salary.

[al baby]

Thats a lot of Ba Ba Booey

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

This is the business equivalent of the Vikings giving away everything to obtain Herschel Walker.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Sirius hands out stock like its the dot com days. The amount of shares outstanding is unbelievable.

Giving Stern 100 million a year was insane.

[L98Fiero]

XM SATELLITE RADIO TOPS SIX MILLION SUBSCRIBERS

http://www.xmradio.com/newsroom/screen/pr_2006_01_05a.html

[alice_in_bubbaland]

Same here! I never liked him, too sophomoric for my taste.(even before I was a FReeper)

[Hank Rearden]

This whole thing smells like a massive flop in the making.

[hoosierboy]

Sirius dropped Fox news channel, and A lot of them are ticked. I will probably drop sirius if it doesnt come back. Karmazin put all his eggs in one basket with them going to stern. I know of lots of people who have cancelled their subscription already.

[birbear]

I always feel the need to give credit to people who can sell.

I've never listened to the guy (but I've seen some of his stuff on E! and based on that, I'd never listen)... but the guy knows how to wrangle a good deal for himself.

Think Rush would ever jump to satellite radio?

I think he'd do it in a minute if he could get a Howard Stern like deal (or better)...

[Pop Fly]

Meanwhile they can't find some pocket change to buy back Fox News radio. I don't think they realize how much money they're going to lose from that.

[socal_parrot]

[billorites]

Good for Howard.

I'd rather give Don Imus a sponge bath than listen to Howard, though.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I don't hate him, just his crappy show where he talks about how hot this or that prostitute or whore looks.

[moehoward]

I thought Fox was going to XM?

[Turbopilot]

Actually, the stock's done rather well. Their problem now is that they've temporarily lost Fox News because they couldn't get together on a new contract. When I called to ask (there was no announcement, even though they send monthly emails - that channel just became CNN Headline News one day), the CS guy claimed they were still in negotiations and that it would be back soon.

Hopefully, they'll work out the dispute. But if not, my year contract expires in March, and I let 'em know that XM definitely does carry Fox, hint hint.

[snarkytart]

Fox News is now exclusively on XM.

[moehoward]

So it was on both?

[ContemptofCourt]

The problem with SIRI is that their float is ridiculous. They have a market value of $8.5 BILLION dollars, yet have not made a penny.

I just can't see their stock moving up significantly, especially when they are willing to literally throw millions of shares at Stern.