The man behind the disastrous AOL-Time Warner merger discusses his fall from grace, deflecting critics and the perils of believing you’re Superman.
Gerald M. Levin—the former chief executive of Time Warner Inc., who orchestrated that media company’s disastrous $106 billion merger with AOL in 2000—experienced many executives’ worst fear: After more than three decades climbing the corporate ladder and 10 years as a well-regarded C.E.O., he lost his job and the better part of his professional reputation.
Few now recall that Levin foresaw the profitability of cable and invested heavily in it or that he successfully married Time Inc. with Warner Communications. In fact, about all anyone can remember is that he retired in May 2002 with millions after his company’s stock had plummeted by 70 percent following the AOL merger. As he left, he was dissected in the press and denounced on Wall Street, and he found himself alienated from his former colleagues. It wasn’t so much a fall from grace as it was a jet-propelled nosedive.
See full Article.
Posts
