Balboa ­Park’s Old Globe Theatre escaped the great financial meltdown of 2008 relatively unscathed, at least according to its IRS return covering the 12-month period ending in December 2008 and filed last November 18. The document was recently made available online. The nonprofit organization took in $22,250,419 worth of total revenue and spent $19,846,613, leaving it with a positive balance of about $2.4 million. That was down from the $4.2 million in revenue less expenses that the group reported for the previous year, but total net assets increased from $46,489,620 at the beginning of 2008 to $48,893,426 at ­year’s ­end.

Chief executive and executive director Louis Spisto made $277,148 in salary, along with $32,695 in additional compensation. In addition, the Globe bought him first-class tickets, for “medically related” reasons, whenever he went on business trips, according to the return. Second-highest paid was then–resident artistic director Darko Tresnjak, with a salary of $148,771 and additional compensation of $22,981. Vice president and general manager Michael Murphy got $135,238, plus $17,498.