AMC Networks’ board of directors has unveiled the 2022 compensation packages paid to the leadership team following surprising executive suite turmoil at the company that operates cable networks like AMC, IFC and Sundance TV.
Former CEO, COO and CFO Christina Spade received a total compensation package of $21.3 million last year, AMC Networks revealed in an SEC filing published Friday. Spade was promoted to CEO as of September 9, 2022, only to step down abruptly on November 28, 2022.
Spade, whose salary exceeded $7 million in 2021, received a $1.24 million salary and no bonus last year, while also receiving $7.4 million in stock awards, $2.1 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and took home $10.5 million in “all other” compensation.
Spade’s last employment contract expired at the end of 2025 and stipulated that she was eligible to receive more than $10 million in severance pay, in addition to limited stock-related benefits and other awards.
Former interim CEO Matthew Blank, who made way for Spade in the top position last September, received a total pay package of $4.87 million last year, down from $6.96 million in 2021.
Josh Sapan, another former CEO, as well as former president and executive vice chairman, earned $15.06 million in 2022, slightly less than a $15.2 million fee in 2021. Blank, a former CEO of Showtime Networks, replaced the old boss Sapan as a previous CEO.
Sapan then transitioned to the role of Executive Vice Chairman after a 26-year career with the company, with that term ending December 31, 2022.
Elsewhere in the SEC filing, Patrick O’Connell, formerly a senior executive at CBS Corp. and Goldman Sachs who became executive vp and CFO at AMC Networks effective August 2, 2022, a total compensation package of $1.7 million last year.
