Time Warner Cuts Pay of Its CEO To $16 Million
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Time Warner paid its chief executive officer, Richard Parsons, a total of $16 million last year, a 1.4% cut from 2004.
Mr. Parsons’s basic salary was unchanged at $1.5 million and his bonus was cut to $7.5 million from $8 million in 2004, Time Warner said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Mr.Parsons, 57, on February 17 agreed to increase the company’s share buyback program to $20 billion and cut expenses by $1 billion in two years to end a six-month battle with billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Time Warner shares slumped 10.3% in 2005 amid declining media stocks.
“The shares are in line with their peers so the compensation is as reasonable as it gets for a CEO,” said Peter Jankovskis, director of research at Oakbrook Investments, which holds Time Warner shares among its $1 billion in assets. “As a whole, he’s paid a bit much, but compared with his peers, he doesn’t stand out.”
