Greg Maffei’s Liberty Media CEO Pay Fell Before Exiting

Greg Maffei, who served as the President and CEO of Liberty Media for nearly two decades, saw his compensation drop to $24.3 million in 2024, his final year in that role before stepping down at the end of the year.

The figure represents a decrease from his 2023 pay of $28.7 million, though it was higher than the $22.4 million he earned in 2022 and the $21.6 million in 2021. The details of his 2024 compensation were disclosed in a regulatory filing by Liberty Media, a company controlled by media mogul John Malone, which owns assets like Formula One, SiriusXM, and a stake in Live Nation Entertainment.

Greg Maffei

Breaking down Maffei’s 2024 pay, it included several components: his stock awards increased to $8.7 million from $7.1 million in 2023, and he received a $1 million bonus, which he hadn’t gotten the previous year. However, his non-equity incentive plan compensation—a significant cash component—dropped sharply to $9.5 million from $14.3 million, and his option awards fell to $1.1 million from $3.8 million. These reductions in incentive and option values largely account for the overall decline from 2023 to 2024. Notably, the filing didn’t specify his base salary for 2024, but historically, it’s been a smaller fraction of his total package—around $871,880 in 2020, for instance—suggesting the bulk of his earnings consistently came from performance-based awards.

Maffei’s tenure at Liberty Media, which began in 2005, was marked by significant growth and dealmaking, including the acquisitions of the Atlanta Braves, DirecTV, SiriusXM, Live Nation Entertainment, and Formula One. 

His exit coincided with a simplification of Liberty Media’s corporate structure, including the spin-off of most assets except Formula One and the pending MotoGP acquisition into a new entity called Liberty Live. This restructuring was announced in November 2024, with Maffei transitioning to a senior advisor role starting January 1, 2025, and John Malone stepping in as interim CEO.