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WASHINGTON -- AOL Time Warner Inc. Chairman Steve Case exercised options and has sold $50 million in shares of the world's largest Internet and media company, a company spokesman said. AOL’s Case sells
$50 million in sharesReuters
The Hawaii-born Case, 42, sold 1 million shares of the New York-based company's common stock, spokesman Jim Whitney said yesterday. One of AOL Time Warner's 16 directors, Miles Gilburne, sold 100,000 shares valued at about $5 million, Whitney said.
After the Feb. 6 sale, Whitney added, Case holds 30.2 million shares in AOL Time Warner, which was formed last month from the merger of Internet giant America Online Inc. and cable and media conglomerate Time Warner Inc.
In filings made Feb. 6 with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but made public yesterday, Case and Gilburne had indicated their plans to sell the shares they acquired after exercising options.
The SEC documents show that Case had not sold any shares in the previous three months, but Gilburne had also sold 100,000 shares on Feb. 5 for about $5 million.
The combined sale of 1.2 million shares by both men was valued at $60 million.
"It is typical for AOL executives to sell shares during the company's open windows as part of their long-term personal financial planning," Whitney said. "All of our executives continue to have very significant holdings of the company."
Company executives, to avoid illegal insider trading, are permitted to sell stock during "open windows" to avoid the appearance of trading stock with the knowledge of nonpublic information.
AOL stock, which in the past year has ranged from $31.75 to $74.44, closed at $48.53 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The stock is up 39.5 percent year-to-date through yesterday but off 13 percent over the past 52 weeks.