Ted Turner, who is quitting as AOL Time Warner Inc vice chairman, is accelerating the sale of his stock in the world's largest media company.
Turner, the largest individual shareholder at New York-based AOL Time Warner, said Friday that he sold US$50 million of stock outside of a prearranged trading program he established in May.
The program called for Turner to sell US$5 million worth of AOL Time Warner stock each month.
The founder of Cable News Network sold his media business to Time Warner Inc in 1996 for US$6.2 billion in stock. When America Online Inc acquired Time Warner in 2001, he became vice chairman of the combined company. Two days after Turner said last month he would resign, he sold 1.3 million shares at US$11.37 to US$11.82 each.
He also sold 450,000 shares on Tuesday, possibly his prearranged allotment for the month.
``If he continues at this pace, it would lead all rational people to question whether he has concerns about the business of AOL Time Warner, or if his sales reflect his own personal financial situation,'' said Raymond James & Associates Inc analyst Phil Leigh, who rates AOL Time Warner shares "hold."
According to the schedule Turner had established, his next sale was due in March.
Maura Donlan, a spokeswoman for Turner Enterprises, said last month that the 1.3 million shares represented about three months of sales under the trading program. Turner had refrained from selling stock from November through most of January because the company was reviewing its financial statements and was being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, Donlan said.
Turner, who said he planned to step down at AOL Time Warner's annual meeting in May, has been a critic of some members of the company's management. He has blamed Stephen Case, who last month said he would resign in May as the company's chairman, and former CEO Gerald Levin for the decline in AOL Time Warner stock.
* After Turner said last month he would resign, he sold 1.3 million shares at US$11.37 to US$11.82 each.
* He also sold 450,000 shares on Tuesday.
* On Friday Turner said that he sold US$50 million of stock.
Shares of the combined AOL Time Warner have fallen 77 percent since the merger. The company last month posted a 2002 net loss of US$98.7 billion, the largest in US history.
AOL Time Warner shares rose US$0.36 on Friday, or 3.6 percent, to US$10.51 each in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have fallen 62 percent in the past year.
Brenda Karickhoff, an associate general counsel at AOL Time Warner, confirmed that the sales reported by Turner today were outside his prearranged plan. Donlan had no immediate comment on the reason for the additional sales.
The media veteran filed a Form 4 with the SEC Friday disclosing the sale of 5 million shares at US$10.10 to US$10.50 each.
In October 2000, new SEC rules took effect that permitted corporate insiders such as Turner to plan stock sales in advance.
Under the rule, executives could sell stock throughout the year without fear of breaking insider-trading laws, as long as they had no inside information at the time the plan was established.
Turner established such a program on May 6, 2002, and since that time, almost all of his trading has been conducted under the prearranged plan. The existence of this plan doesn't bar him from selling additional shares, according to one expert.
"What the rule does is allow you to commit to a sales program or a purchase program in advance and then make the transactions automatically," said Peter Romeo, a securities attorney with Hogan & Hartson. "That doesn't mean you are precluded from making other trades so long as you don't have inside information when you engage in those trades."
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