Employee Benefit Plans (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Disclosures [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

Pension Plans

The Company sponsors qualified and unqualified defined benefit pension plans that provide pension benefits to a majority of employees who were employed by TWC before the merger with TWC. Pension benefits are based on formulas that reflect the employees’ years of service and compensation during their employment period. Actuarial gains or losses are changes in the amount of either the benefit obligation or the fair value of plan assets resulting from experience different from that assumed or from changes in assumptions. The Company has elected to follow a mark-to-market pension accounting policy for recording the actuarial gains or losses annually during the fourth quarter, or earlier if a remeasurement event occurs during an interim period.

In June 2023, the Company purchased a buy-in group annuity contract ("GAC") from a highly rated insurer and in October 2023, the Company announced plans to fully terminate the qualified pension plan. The benefit obligation for the qualified pension plan as of December 31, 2023 of $2.4 billion was therefore determined on a plan termination basis for which it is assumed that a portion of eligible active and deferred vested participants will elect lump sum payments. Pension obligations will be distributed through a combination of lump sum payments to eligible participants who elect such payments and through the GAC.

Changes in the projected benefit obligation, fair value of plan assets and funded status of the pension plans from January 1 through December 31 are presented below:

	2023		2022
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	2,243	$	3,374
Interest cost	117		103
Actuarial (gain) loss	222		(1,032)
Settlement	(97)		(146)
Benefits paid	(59)		(56)
Projected benefit obligation at end of year	$	2,426	$	2,243
Accumulated benefit obligation at end of year	$	2,426	$	2,243
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	2,583	$	3,457
Actual return on plan assets	124		(675)
Employer contributions	2		3
Settlement	(97)		(146)
Benefits paid	(59)		(56)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	2,553	$	2,583
Funded status	$	127	$	340

The components of net periodic benefit (cost) for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 consisted of the following:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Interest cost	$	(117)	$	(103)	$	(97)
Expected return on plan assets	124		156		165
Remeasurement gain (loss)	(223)		201		237
Net periodic pension benefit (cost)	$	(216)	$	254	$	305

The remeasurement loss recorded during the year ended December 31, 2023 primarily reflects the measurement of the projected benefit obligations under a plan termination basis. The remeasurement gains recorded during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were primarily driven by changes in the discount rate as well as gains or losses to record pension assets to fair value.

The discount rates used to determine benefit obligations as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 were 4.65% and 5.46%, respectively. The Company utilized the 417(e) Applicable Mortality Table for lump sums for the portion of the benefit obligation not covered by the GAC as of December 31, 2023 and the Pri-2012/MP 2020 mortality table published by the Society of Actuaries to measure the benefit obligations as of December 31, 2022.

Weighted average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit costs consisted of the following:

	Year ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%
Discount rate	5.46	%	3.01	%	2.7	%

In developing the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, the Company considered the pension portfolio’s composition, past average rate of earnings and the Company’s future asset allocation targets. The weighted average expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and discount rate used to determine net periodic pension benefit (cost) for the year ended December 31, 2024 are expected to be 5.00% and 4.65%, respectively. The Company determined the discount rates used to determine benefit obligations and net periodic pension benefit (cost) based on the yield of a large population of high quality corporate bonds with cash flows sufficient in timing and amount to settle projected future defined benefit payments.

Pension Plan Assets

The assets of the qualified pension plan are held in a master trust in which the qualified pension plan is the only participating plan (the “Master Trust”). The investment policy for the qualified pension plan is to manage the assets of the Master Trust with the objective to provide for pension liabilities to be met, seeking to maintain retirement income security for the participants of the plan and their beneficiaries. The investment portfolio is a mix of a GAC and pooled funds invested in fixed income securities, equity securities and certain alternative investments with the objective of matching plan liability performance, diversifying risk and achieving a target investment return. Pension assets are managed in a balanced portfolio comprised of two major components: a return-seeking portion and a liability-matching portion.

As a result of the Company’s decision to terminate the qualified pension plan, the Company’s investment strategy has transitioned to liquidating and winding down the portfolio’s remaining return-seeking investments in a timely and orderly manner, while managing the liability-matching investments to hedge the interest rate risk of the liability for which the Company is still responsible (i.e., the liability not assumed by the GAC).

The following tables set forth the investment assets of the qualified pension plan by level within the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2023 and 2022:

	December 31, 2023						December 31, 2022
	Fair Value		Level 2		Level 3		Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2
Cash	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	6	$	6	$	—
Collective trust funds(a)	745		745		—		1,858		—		1,858
Group annuity contract(b)	1,464		—		1,464		—		—		—
Total investment assets	2,209		$	745	$	1,464	1,864		$	6	$	1,858
Accrued investment income and other receivables	4						42
Accrued liabilities	(2)						(25)
Investments measured at net asset value(c)	342						702
Fair value of plan assets	$	2,553					$	2,583

(a)Collective trust funds consist of bond funds with corporate and U.S. treasury debt securities, equity funds with global equity index, infrastructure and real estate securities and short-term investment strategies comprised of instruments issued or fully guaranteed by the U.S. government and/or its agencies and multi-strategy funds, which are valued using the net assets provided by the administrator of the fund. The value of each fund is based on the readily determinable fair value of the underlying assets owned by the fund, less liabilities, and then divided by the number of units outstanding.

(b)In June 2023, the Company purchased a buy-in GAC which was initially recorded at the $1.4 billion purchase price and subsequently adjusted to fair value using changes to market conditions impacting the cash flow assumptions that were priced into the original contract.

(c)As a practical expedient, certain investment classes which hold securities that are not readily available for redemption and are measured at fair value using the net asset value ("NAV") per share (or its equivalent) have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy. The primary investment classes include alternative, fixed income and real estate funds. Certain investments report NAV per share on a month or quarter lag. There are no material unfunded commitments with respect to these investment classes.

The following table represents a rollforward of the Level 3 assets as of December 31, 2023:

	Group Annuity Contract
Balance at December 31, 2022	$	—
Purchases	1,430
Unrealized gain	34
Balance at December 31, 2023	$	1,464

Pension Plan Contributions

The Company made no cash contributions to the qualified pension plan during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021; however, the Company may make discretionary cash contributions to the qualified pension plan in the future. Such contributions will be dependent on a variety of factors, including current and expected interest rates, asset performance, the funded status of the qualified pension plan and management’s judgment. For the nonqualified unfunded pension plan, the Company will continue to make contributions during 2024 to the extent benefits are paid.

Benefit payments for the pension plans are expected to be $194 million in 2024, $183 million in 2025, $176 million in 2026, $169 million in 2027, $162 million in 2028 and $753 million in 2029 to 2033.

Defined Contribution Benefit Plans

The Company’s employees may participate in the Charter Communications, Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan (the “401(k) Plan”). Employees that qualify for participation can contribute up to 50% of their salary, on a pre-tax basis, subject to a maximum contribution limit as determined by the IRS. The Company’s matching contribution is discretionary and is equal to 100% of the amount of the salary reduction the participant elects to defer (up to 6% of the participant’s eligible compensation), excluding any catch-up contributions and is paid by the Company on a per pay period basis. 

For employees who are not eligible to participate in the Company’s long-term incentive plan and who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the Company offers a contribution to the Retirement Accumulation Plan ("RAP"), equal to 3% of eligible pay. The Company made contributions to the 401(k) plan and RAP totaling $566 million, $506 million and $495 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.