Time Warner CEO sells 81% of direct holdings in company

Jeffrey Bewkes, the chief executive officer of Time Warner Inc, sold 81 percent of his direct holdings in the media company for $12.2 million, capitalising on a 25 per cent gain in the stock this year.

Bewkes, who turned 61 last week, sold 205,681 shares May 29 for $59.27 each, according to a regulatory filing. The executive, who has run the company since 2008, made $25.9 million in salary, stock awards and other compensation last year, slightly less than the prior year. The shares have gained 75 per cent since he took over as CEO.

He still owns 48,010 shares directly and 35,010 indirectly through an employee-benefit plan. Bewkes also has 3.79 million in stock options and 437,420 in restricted stock units. Adding all those shares together, this week's sale represents about 5 per cent of his potential equity stake.

Bewkes has worked to slim down the media conglomerate that once included Time Warner Cable Inc and AOL Inc. The company announced plans in March to split off its Time Inc magazine unit amid an industrywide advertising slump. The company still owns cable networks such as HBO and TNT, as well as movie studio Warner Bros. Time Warner shares rose less than 1 per cent to $59.58 yesterday in New York.