Paul “Triple H” Levesque earnings were more than the earnings of his father-in-law, Vince McMahon for 2016, according to WWE’s most recent filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The 47-year-old Triple H raked in nearly $1 million more than McMahon, with Triple H earning $3,993,417 and McMahon earning the tidy sum of $3,071,600 last year.
Triple H’s Wealth: Breaking Down His 2016 Earnings
Triple H and Vince McMahon, Powerful Heads of WWE Wrestling, Share the Stage [Image by WWE]
Triple H is WWE’s highest paid executive. Bleacher Report breaks Triple H’s 2016 Earnings down like this:
Salary: $601,933
Stock Awards: $499,992
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation: $419,531
Other Compensation $2,471,961
Total: $3,993,417
Salary: Paul Levesque received a five percent increase in his base executive salary, according to WWE’s proxy filing. Triple H earned $601,933.
Stock Awards:Triple H received 38,507 shares of WWE stock according to Forbes, compared to 2015’s 16,050 shares through vesting. Currently, those shares are worth roughly $800,000 taking into account the current share price of $20.81. It must be noted that these stocks won’t start to vest until July, and then they will vest in three equal installments over the next three years. This brings Triple H’s WWE stock shares to a whopping grand total of 66,481 shares, equating to a cool $1.38 million that have not yet vested.
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation: Triple H’s earnings in cash incentives amounted to $419,513 last year.
Other Compensation:The bulk of Triple H’s earnings for the year 2016 came from his booking contract with WWE, according to Forbes. Triple H has a booking contract of $1 million per year with WWE. Levesque wrestled four times in 2016. He even won the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble before losing it to Roman Reigns later at WrestleMania 32.
The $1 million cap is the typical cap for a WWE wrestler, but many WWE wrestlers earn above and beyond this with their bonus earnings. A good example of bonus earnings is Triple H who earned nearly $1.5 million in bonus pay in addition to the $1 million booking contract, according to Forbes.
“Last year the King of Kings tacked on just under $1.5 million in bonus pay from his share of WWE live event and merchandise revenues, bringing his total performance compensation to nearly $2.5 million.”
Triple H Attacks Seth Rollins With a Crutch Last Monday, March 13 on WWE RAW [Image by WWE]
Although, Levesque spends so little time involved in actual in-ring fighting, he is compensated very well for the time he does spend in the ring. It is widely believed that Triple H will again compete at WrestleMania 33 as he is currently embroiled in a rivalry with Seth Rollins. We saw him beating his former protege with a crutch this week on Monday night’s edition of WWE Raw. It is expected that the rivalry will culminate in a WrestleMania 33 showdown where master and pupil take each other on in a head-to-head match.
All in all, Triple H is smiling all the way to the bank as his earnings outshone that of every WWE executive for the year 2016, including that of his father-in-law WWE chairman Vince McMahon.
“That makes Levesque the company’s highest-paid executive in terms of cash payouts, topping even WWE chairman Vince McMahon.”
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation: $1,739,063
Other Compensation $19,075
Total: $3,071,600
Vince McMahon acquired WWE from his father in 1982, and has since been WWE’s majority owner. It has been McMahon’s drive and vision that has been the driving force behind WWE’s epic global status.
King of Kings, Triple H, even beat his father’s earnings of just over $3 million. McMahon raked in $3,071,600 from his base salary and cash bonuses. A pretty mean feat, considering that Triple H’s father-in law, McMahon, controls almost 94 percent of WWE’s Class B shares.
[Featured Image by Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP]
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