A $3 million signing bonus for Live Nation CEO!

There’s been lots of stories lately about some of the questions being raised over the merger between Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster (TKTM) (see here and here for example) both here and across the pond in the U.K. It’s still unclear how that will resolve. But late yesterday, Live Nation filed several different forms — an 8K, a 425 and an amended S-4 — that had a new disclosure about a hefty payday for Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino.

Under Rapino’s new employment contract, which became effective Oct. 21, he will be entitled to a $3 million signing bonus — assuming the deal closes, of course. Here’s how it’s described in the contract:

Signing Bonus. In addition to Base Salary, provided that the Executive remains employed by the Company until the Effective Date, the Executive shall be paid a one-time signing bonus in the amount of $3,000,000, less appropriate payroll deductions and all required withholdings, which shall be payable within 10 days after the Effective Date.

There’s also an annual salary of $2 million and some other goodies like an “exception performance bonus” which is in addition to the plain-vanilla performance bonus.

As we’ve footnoted before, we’re not big fans of Live Nation. But this deal seems like yet another indication of a deal that seems to do a lot for a few top executives and not so much for practically everyone else.