(Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes first discussed a merger with his counterpart at AT&T Inc. over an August lunch in New York -- a rendezvous that could end up yielding him $117 million.
Bewkes would receive $32.9 million in cash severance and at least $81 million in equity awards if he's let go in the transaction, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. He's also entitled to $2.17 million in pension benefits accrued as of Dec. 31 and another $1.21 million that primarily covers payments under a life insurance policy, a regulatory filing shows.
Some of his equity awards would vest early and others that are tied to total shareholder return and per-share earnings targets vest over several three-year periods. The estimate of his total golden parachute doesn't include any grants of performance stock issued in 2016 since the company hasn't yet filed a compensation statement for that fiscal year.
Bewkes, 64, signed a new employment contract in January that runs through 2020 and there's no indication he would be terminated as part of the takeover. On a conference call on Monday, he said: “I'll be staying after we close the deal.”
A Time Warner spokesperson didn't immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
On Saturday, the companies announced plans to combine in a deal worth $85.4 billion, the biggest announced so far this year. Bewkes hosted AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson in the 10th floor dining room at Time Warner's New York headquarters days after the phone company chief had a meeting with Hollywood executive Peter Chernin on Martha's Vineyard that helped spark the transaction.
--With assistance from Gerry Smith
To contact the reporters on this story:
Anders Melin in New York at amelin3@bloomberg.net
Caleb Melby in New York at cmelby@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Brandon Kochkodin at bkochkodin@bloomberg.net
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