Among The Carnage: iHM Still Has Money For Some

iHeartMedia has dialed-up the pay for its legal chief and extended her contract through September 2026.

General counsel and secretary Jordan Fasbender also gets a new title for her business card: executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary, according to law.com.

Fasbender, who joined San Antonio-based iHeart in 2019 as deputy general counsel from 21st Century Fox and became GC in 2021, earned $2.33 million in 2023, according to the company's proxy statement released in April. Her salary rose to $725,000 from $700,000 in 2022, in part reflecting expanded responsibilities.

Under terms of her new contract, Fasbender's salary rises to $825,00 and will be cranked-up to $850,000 next October. Her target bonus potential was increased to 115% of annual salary from 110%, currently.

The company also said it expects to grant Fasbender an annual equity award with a target grant date fair value equal to $1 million. In 2023, Fasbender received a stock award of $852,049 and non-equity award of $751,169.

Fasbender is the fourth-highest paid executive at iHeart—known for its iHeartRadio app, iHeartPodcast, iHeartRadio Music Festival and iHeartRadio Music Awards.

According to the company's April proxy statement, Fasbender hit her targets in 2023, which included goals related to privacy, ESG and compliance. Fasbender's legal team juggles a wide range of issues in geographically diverse markets such as government compliance, intellectual property and litigation.

At 21st Century Fox, where she rose to senior vice president and associate general counsel, Fasbender focused on corporate finance, corporate governance and Securities and Exchange Commission matters. She also had a hand in the $71 billion sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney, which was announced in 2017 and completed in 2019.

iHeartMedia has about 860 radio stations in 160 markets. But it has increasingly relied on growth from its digital audio group as radio station operators grapple with a decline in listeners and ad revenues.

The company's digital audio group bolstered its revenues by 5% last year, fueled by a 14% jump in podcast revenues. For the year, iHeart's total revenues fell 4%, to $3.75 billion.