Company: IHETW
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001400891-25-000022
Chunk: 37

Company: iHeartMedia, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 37
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 management, has focused on developing clear, robust compensation principles that encourage our executives to focus on driving short- and long-term stockholder value creation. This past year, the Company, led by our senior management and Board, increased its strong level of engagement with stockholders. The Committee considered this feedback along with its regular and ongoing compensation review process to enhance prioritization and weighting on performance. In 2024, our Chairman and CEO Robert Pittman's and President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Richard Bressler's annual equity mix was made more performance-based, with 35% in restricted stock units ("RSUs") and 65% in performance stock units ("PSUs"), compared to an equal mix of RSUs and PSUs in the prior year. Our Deputy CFO received a mix of 50% RSUs and 50% PSUs. In addition, we shifted a portion of the long-term incentive value to an equity-based but cash-settled award (rather than a share-settled award) for all NEOs based on share utilization and dilution considerations.

The compensation determinations for our NEOs reflect our 2024 performance as well as the many contributions of our leaders. While we made progress against the metrics under the 2024 Annual Incentive Plan, we were not able to meet all of our rigorous goals for the year, and our NEOs received payouts of approximately 71% of their targets, which is the third year in a row of below-target payouts to our NEOs under this plan. 2024 also marked the end of the performance period for our first regular annual PSU awards, granted in 2022. The Company did not meet many of the rigorous goals set forth in the 2022 PSU awards and therefore our NEOs only earned 15.3% of the target shares granted upon vesting in May 2025. While below-target payouts under our incentive programs indicate that the Company’s performance results fell short of our expectations, they also demonstrate that the executive pay program is working as intended: when performance goals are not met, compensation is not realized.

As a Committee, we remain focused on driving the thoughtful evolution of the Company’s executive compensation program in support of our business strategy and organizational structure while taking into account the views of our stockholders. We will continue to focus on implementing clear and robust compensation principles that emphasize rewarding exceptional performance, driving value creation for our stockholders and ensuring best practices and sound governance in everything we do.

Sincerely,

James A. Rasulo,