Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes’ compensation soars 50% to $49 million
Compensation for Time Warner Chief Executive Jeffrey Bewkes — who is hoping to take a victory lap after orchestrating the sale of his company to AT&T — soared to $49 million in 2017, according to a regulatory filing.
His 2017 compensation was 50% higher than the previous year, when he received $32.6 million.
The boost came from an extra allocation of stock awards. Bewkes received $32 million in stock grants last year, up from $7.8 million in 2016. Time Warner offered its top executives stock incentives to stay with the company through the transition to AT&T ownership, and Bewkes received double the amount of his regular long-term incentive stock award to cover two years — 2017 and 2018.
The merger, however, has stalled. The U.S. Justice Department sued AT&T and Time Warner in November in an attempt to block the combination, alleging that it was anti-competitive. A trial has been underway in Washington since mid-March to decide whether AT&T will be allowed to complete its $85.4-billion purchase of Time Warner.
Closing arguments in the case will be heard Monday. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is expected to rule sometime in June.
In 2017, Bewkes was paid a base salary of $2 million. In addition to the $32 million in stock awards, he was paid a cash bonus of $14.7 million. He received more than $260,000 in other benefits, including personal use of a corporate jet, a car and driver and $30,000 to help pay for financial planning services.
Bewkes, 65, has served as chief executive of Time Warner for nearly a decade.
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