Former NYT Co. CEO retired with $23M package

[March 10, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Former New York Times CEO Janet Robinson retired from the newspaper publisher late last year with a severance package valued at about $23 million.

The publishing company that owns The New York Times disclosed the details of Robinson's compensation in a Friday regulatory filing.

Robinson, 61, retired on December 31, after a 28-year career with the company. She served as CEO for the last seven years.

Since her departure, the company's chairman, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., has been serving as interim CEO.

Robinson received $11.4 million in retirement benefits, $5.4 million in awards based on her performance, restricted stock valued at nearly $1.07 million and stock options valued at nearly $700,000.

As part of her severance, she is also being paid a previously disclosed $4.5 million consulting fee this year.

Most of the payments were part of Robinson's original severance package. The consulting payment and one year of health coverage were added after her retirement was announced in December, according to the filing.

Like most newspaper publishers, the Times Co., which also owns The Boston Globe and the International Herald Tribune, has cut jobs and expenses in recent years to cope with a steep drop in print advertising -- a key source of revenue.

Under Robinson's leadership, the Times Co. built one of the newspaper industry's most successful digital operations. But the company's gains in online advertising haven't been nearly enough to offset the decline in print ad revenue. In Robinson's final year on the job, the Times Co. posted a $39.7 million loss, as its revenue slipped 3 percent from the previous year to $2.3 billion.

[Associated Press]

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