Howard Stern gets OK to sell his $191m in stock
Howard Stern, who was recently awarded 31.3 million shares of Sirius as a bonus for meeting his subscriber targets early, has just received the OK to start selling off that stock, if he should wish it. It may not be a bad idea for Stern, because:
• The proceeds could help pay the roughly $93.7 million income tax bill he faces for receiving the stock, estimates Alan Weiner of tax firm Holtz Rubenstein Reminick.
• Holding so much stock could reduce Stern’s leverage when his contract comes up for renewal in 2010 because Sirius would know his shares could lose value if he doesn’t renew, says analyst Kit Spring at Stifel Nicolaus.
He probably won’t sell it, however. By all accounts, Stern has a lot of faith in Sirius and in Satellite Radio, and specifically negotiated for the stock bonus. He probably feels that if he performs well, Sirius’s stock will rise and he’ll stand to make more money in the long run.
The amount of stock currently owned by Stern amounts to approximately 2.5% of the company.
