U2 received an estimated $19 million worth of shares in Live Nation as part of that 12-year deal struck between the band and the live music conglom back in March.
Unlike Live Nation's multi-million dollar deals with Madonna, Jay-Z, Nickelback and Shakira, Bono et al's expanded business relationship with the company did not include their recordings or publishing rights, though in addition to an exclusive touring relationship, Live Nation did get a stake in the band's merchandising and online activity. U2 will continue to release albums, however, via Universal Music.
The share component of the U2/Live Nation deal became public last week when Live Nation made a filing with the US's Securities and Exchange Commission which registered 1.56 million shares in the company to U2.
Other specifics of the U2/Live Nation deal are not known, although as the band's Vertigo tour from 2005 to 2007 had reported revenues close to $400 million, over a twelve year relationship tour revenues could easily exceed a billion, so presumably the live music firm offered the band a pretty good deal to secure the twelve year partnership, even without recordings.