Time Warner Boosts CEO Pay 50% to $49 Million as Deal Looms
Time Warner Boosts CEO's Pay 50% to $49 Million as Merger Looms
(Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc. gave Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes a 50 percent pay increase to $49 million, with most of the raise tied to its pending merger with AT&T Inc.
Bewkes, 65, got 332,226 restricted shares valued at $32 million that will vest over five years, according to a regulatory filing Friday. The award came with a performance condition linked to the firm’s 2017 adjusted net income, which was achieved, Time Warner said. The CEO also got a $14.7 million cash bonus and $2 million in salary for 2017. His total compensation the previous year was $32.6 million.
The Justice Department has delayed the acquisition over concerns it will raise prices for pay-TV subscribers -- an assertion AT&T has disputed. The two sides are scheduled to make closing arguments Monday in Washington.
Several other top executives, including Chief Financial Officer Howard Averill, got merger-related awards in 2016. The grants were meant as an incentive to keep them in their jobs until a deal is completed, Time Warner spokesman Keith Cocozza said. Bewkes won’t receive any equity awards for 2018, Cocozza said.
AT&T executive John Stankey would be in charge of overseeing Time Warner’s three divisions -- Warner Bros., HBO and the Turner networks, which include CNN and TNT. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, 58, will take over as head of the combined company, while Bewkes has said previously he’ll stay for a while after the deal is completed.
To contact the reporters on this story: Anders Melin in New York at amelin3@bloomberg.net, Gerry Smith in New York at gsmith233@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Peter Eichenbaum
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