NEW YORK – Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes received $26.3 million in total compensation last year, up a little more than 34 percent from the $19.6 million recorded for 2009, according to a regulatory filing late Tuesday.
His base salary rose from $1.75 million to $2 million, while his performance-based bonus payments increased from $12.1 million to $14.4 million. Bewkes also saw the value of his stock and options awards rise, according to the filing.
TW CFO John Martin’s total compensation rose from $6.3 million in 2009 to $10.2 million last year driven by improvements in the same areas as Bewkes.
The regulatory filing mentioned several factors that the entertainment giant’s considered to determine performance bonuses for Bewkes, including his leadership in the company’s execution of its key strategic objectives. He also “provided strategic direction regarding the digital transitions at each of the company’s divisions” and “continued to increase the strategic and operating coordination between the company’s business units,” such as via a digital partnership in sports Web sites between the Time Inc. magazine unit and TV networks arm Turner, the filing said.
Other CEOs of big media and entertainment companies have also seen higher compensation for 2010.
Meanwhile, TW will at its annual meeting in May let shareholders decide on a proposal to hold advisory, meaning non-binding, votes to approve executive compensation. The company proposes to hold such a vote every three years, but shareholders also have the option to vote for one or two year intervals. Viacom shareholders
recently got the right to approve the compensation of top executives on a non-binding basis every three years.
Other media and entertainment companies also plan to have shareholders decide whether to launch such votes at their shareholder meetings this spring.
