Madison Square Garden Co. CEO James Dolan's Pay Rises to $54 Million

The mogul, who also owns the New York Knicks, made $11.6 million in 2018.

Madison Square Garden Company CEO and executive chairman James Dolan's fiscal 2019 package jumped to $54.1 million, up from $11.6 million in 2018.

The company disclosed the compensation for Dolan, who also owns the New York Knicks, and other top executives, in an SEC regulatory filing issued Oct. 25. Most of Dolan's pay this past year came from $30 million in stock options and another $19.86 million in stock awards, on top of a base salary of $1 million.

“Jim’s compensation package is a multi-year agreement with stock options that vest over four years at prices that are substantially higher than the company’s current stock price," a spokesperson for the MSG Co. said.

Dolan nabbed $11.5 million in total pay in 2017. MSG Co. president Andrew Lustgarten earned $8.53 million in total compensation in 2019, just down from $9.25 million in total compensation for the year earlier.

As the home of the Knicks and New York Rangers pro hockey team, MSG Co. as it gets set to hold its annual shareholders meeting Dec. 11, also proposed adding former Showtime and HBO exec Matthew Blank to its boardroom. Blank was CEO of Showtime from 1995 to 2015, which was followed by a stint as the premium cable TV channel's chairman in 2016 and 2017.

Before jumping to Showtime, Blank worked at rival HBO for 12 years, rising to the job of senior vp consumer marketing.

MSG Co. is set to launch venues called MSG Sphere — the first in Las Vegas by the end of 2021 and the second to open in London a year later.