California Conservative

And why do we tell our kids not to curse?

U.S News & World Report is currently highlighting what they contend are “The Best Jobs to Have In 2006.” However, they forgot one.

Culminating after months of marketing fanfare, Howard Stern started his new job at Sirius on Monday and, by midweek, we hear that he’s looking to cash in. And big.

AP reports: “Just three days after starting his new job at Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., shock jock Howard Stern is now able to sell the roughly $200 million in Sirius stock that he received as part of his five-year deal with the company.”

A couple weeks ago, Stern appeared on CNBC for an interview. While he gave a convincing act as if he doesn’t understand a thing about the stock market, one thing’s for certain: he understands the principle of buying low and selling high.

Sirius’ contract with Stern runs through 2010, but the company disclosed last week that it was giving Stern and his agent 34.4 million shares of stock right away because it had already reached certain undisclosed targets for subscriber growth under the deal it signed with Stern in late 2004.

On Wednesday, the company made another regulatory filing saying that entities controlled by Stern and his agent, Don Buchwald, would receive the proceeds of the sale of the shares, which could occur at any time. It’s not yet clear when or how much they will sell, and Buchwald did not return a call seeking comment.

Nearly all of the stock is going to Stern, but Buchwald also received a substantial chunk: 3.125 million shares, worth nearly $20 million at current share prices, or 10 percent of the 31.25 million shares that Stern received, which are now worth just under $200 million.

Sirius originally said its deal with the shock jock was worth about $100 million per year in cash and stock over the five years of the contract, or $500 million, including costs for producing and marketing the show

But thanks to the nearly doubling of Sirius’ shares since then, the value of the stock portion of the contract went from about $110 million to more than $200 million, making the total deal now worth more than $600 million at current stock prices.

So, that dear friends, must be the best job to have in 2006. Or any year, if you can get it.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 13th, 2006 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Capitalism, Culture, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.