Bewkes extends Time Warner term

Jeff Bewkes

Jeff Bewkes will remain chairman and CEO of US media giant Time Warner until at least 2020.

Having taken up his current post in 2009, he has signed a three-year extension to his existing contract at the company, which counts Turner Broadcasting System, Warner Bros. Entertainment and HBO as its key entertainment assets.

Bewkes has been with Time Warner’s corporate management team since July 2002, when he was named chairman of its entertainment and networks group. He became president and COO of Time Warner in 2006, before becoming president and CEO in 2008, and then moving up to chief executive and chairman a year later.

Bewkes was also chairman and CEO of Time Warner-owned premium cable channel HBO for seven years between 1995 and 2002.

His base salary, annual bonus and long-term equity incentives remain the same with his new contract.

Time Warner’s lead independent director, Steve Bollenbach said Bewkes had “transformed the company to focus on video content” by focusing on HBO, Turner and Warner Bros., and “delivered consistently strong operating and financial performance”.

“More importantly, Jeff has developed and is executing the right long-term strategy for our company in a changing media landscape: one that uses the scale of our film and television businesses not just to create compelling video content that appeals to an increasingly diverse, worldwide audience, but also to lead the industry in developing innovative ways of distributing that content to consumers on both traditional and emerging platforms,” added Bollenbach.

Bewkes notably rebuffed an opportunistic takeover approach from rival 21st Century Fox in 2014.