Turner, former vice chairman and AOL Time Warner's biggest individual shareholder, sold 60 million shares in the media company for US$783.6 million at an average price of US$13.06 a share. In a statement released by the company, Turner said he sold the shares to diversify his holdings and "remains supportive of management."
The sale followed Turner's decision in January to step down as vice chairman after criticizing America Online Inc's purchase of Time Warner Inc. as a "big mistake."
Shares of AOL Time Warner, the world's biggest media company, have risen 19 percent this year after falling 59 percent last year amid SEC and Justice Department investigations into how its America Online unit accounted for revenue.
They rose US$0.32 on Wednesday to US$15.53 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Dell sold 10 million shares for US$296.8 million at an average price of US$29.68, according to the Washington Service.
The executive sold to diversify his investments and "remains the largest shareholder in the com-pany," spokesman Michael Maher said.
Dell is the company's biggest shareholder, with 316 million shares worth about US$10 billion.
Shares of Dell, the world's second-largest personal-computer maker, hovered around US$25 for more than two years as investors said the price-earnings ratio made it an expensive stock. As the Round Rock, Texas-based company's sales increased and it gained market share, investors have pushed its share price as high as US$32.78 on May 15, its highest since 2000.
Yesterday, the company rose US$0.70 to US$31.70.
Analysts said that part of the selling reflects computer-related companies' practice of compensating executives with stock options rather than cash.
Among the other big sales in the past two months, E.W. Scripps Co director Charles Scripps, the company's former chairman, sold 7 million shares for US$528.6 million at an average price of US$75.51, according to the Washington Service.
Scripps's shares were sold through a trust in a public offering as part of a "long-term effort to diversify the trust's assets," the company said in a statement.
Shares of Cincinnati-based Scripps, a publishing company that owns the cable-TV channel Food Network, have climbed 15 percent this year after gaining 17 percent last year. They rose US$1.04 on Wednesday to US$88.44.
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