Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes’ 2012 Pay Steady at $25.9 Million

Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes received compensation worth $25.89 million in 2012, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. That was down just minimally – about 0.2 percent – from 2011.

The figured compared with nearly $25.94 million in 2011 and $26.3 million in 2010.

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Time Warner highlighted that the virtually flat pay came as the entertainment conglomerate’s total shareholder returns in 2012 amounted to 35.8 percent, more than twice the returns for stocks in the broad-based S&P 500 index. The stock alone rose 32.3 percent in 2012. It has risen over the past year amid continued earnings growth and the company’s recent decision to spin off its Time Inc. magazine unit.

The entertainment conglomerate’s compensation disclosure came in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday afternoon. Many companies, whose fiscal year is identical with the calendar year, are making these disclosures around this time of year.

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Bewkes’ salary was unchanged at $2 million, while his non-equity incentive bonus rose from $13.5 million to $13.6 million. Stock awards for Bewkes amounted to $6.9 million, up from $6.1 million in 2011, but option awards declined from $3.96 million to $2.96 million.

Bewkes also made $167,943 in “other compensation,” mostly in the form of personal use of the company aircraft, up from $97,966 in 2011. As in the case of many entertainment conglomerate CEOs, Monday’s filing also mentioned that Bewkes was provided a car and driver “for security reasons.”

TW CFO John Martin made $12.6 million in 2012, up 9.6 percent from $11.5 million in 2011.

TW in its regulatory filing on Monday also said that it has taken steps to make its executive compensation program even more performance-based to align pay with stockholder interests. The company takes into account multiple performance measures, including financial results, stock price and progress on the company’s long-term strategic objectives, when it decides on compensation packages.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai