Howard Stern loses lawsuit against SiriusXM

A judge in Manhattan Supreme Court ruled Monday that SiriusXM satellite radio does not owe shock jock Howard Stern and his agent, Don Buchwald, the $330 million they were suing them for.

Howard filed his lawsuit last year claiming that the satellite radio company failed to award him stock for helping the radio company, which he joined on January 9, 2006, exceed growth targets.

The lawsuit centered on a clause in Howard’s original contract which says he was entitled to additional stock awards as Sirius added subscribers.  Howard thought the subscribers that were brought over from XM Satellite Radio Inc., which Sirius bought in 2008, were to be counted in his performance-based awards.

Justice Barbara Kapnick disagreed with Howard saying: “while it may be true that Stern and Buchwald hoped and expected to reap the benefits from any significant growth that Sirius experienced after they entered into the agreement, that subjective expectation cannot suffice to override the clear, unambiguous language of the agreement.”

Justice Kapnick dismissed with lawsuit with prejudice, which means  Howard cannot bring the lawsuit to court again.

Stern’s original contract with Sirius paid him $500 million over five years, however, that figure covered all costs associated with the show and his production company, One Twelve Inc.

Sirius had 3.3 million subscribers when Howard joined the company; at the ending of 2011 it had 21.9 million subscribers including those from XM.

If Howard had won this case he would have won $300 million and Buchwald, $30 million.

In December 2010, three months before Howard filed his lawsuit, he renewed his contract with Sirius for five more years.