Gerald M. Levin, the former Time Warner CEO who oversaw the AOL merger, widely considered the worst corporate merger in US history, died on March 13 at age 84
but wow. He's dead! Cut a little slack! — www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/o... X: Steve Case / @stevecase : Jerry Levin was a pioneer and visionary. More than two decades ago, Jerry realized the Internet would shape the future, and he embraced it with vigor. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to know him and work with him. He will be missed. #RIP Jeff Harris / @nemalki : It was Gerald Levin, who joined Time in 1972 and became President & CEO of a regional channel known as Home Box Office a year later, who convinced Time to turn HBO into a national satellite channel, the first of its kind, and revolutionized the industry. Jeff Harris / @nemalki : Gerald Levin is the co-founder of Time Warner. He convinced his bosses at Time to acquire Warner Communications, stepped in to lead this company to greatness after Steve Ross's death, and led the push to merge with Turner. He passed away today. Respect his legacy. #WB100 [image] Andrew Nusca / @editorialiste : “When the deal was announced on Jan. 10, 2000, Time Warner was the world's largest media company, and America Online was the largest internet company, with a combined market value of roughly $342 billion (the equivalent of about $600 billion today).” https://www.nytimes.com/... @wsjbusiness : Gerald Levin, a TV executive who helped create HBO and orchestrated the disastrous AOL-Time Warner merger, has died https://www.wsj.com/... M.G. Siegler / @mgsiegler : Every headline is basically this but the guy also essentially created cable television. Joe Flint / @jbflint : Levin became the face of a merger that is considered to be the worst in the history of corporate America. The AOL deal wiped out more than $200 billion in Time Warner shareholder value and made him a pariah in the company he built. https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ Jeff Harris / @nemalki : It seems rather disingenuous that the media outlets who are talking about his death are only acknowledging the AOL deal rather than his decade of leadership and growth at Time Warner in one of the most prolific eras of the company's history. ESPECIALLY REUNITING THE LEGACY! [image] @nytimes : Breaking News: Gerald Levin, a former CEO of Time Warner and an architect of its ill-fated merger with America Online, has died at 84. https://www.nytimes.com/... Jeff Harris / @nemalki : So, yeah, I feel Gerald Levin is more than “the man behind the most disastrous business merger,” and it sucks he still felt that way. At least he was smart enough to keep a lot of Time Warner guys in power and for the old company to own 49% of the new studio and use that power. Tim Hanrahan / @timjhanrahan : @MtthwRose interviewed Gerald Levin back in 2002 when he quit. “I don't just want to be known as the CEO of AOL Time Warner. ... I'm my own person. I have strong moral convictions. I'm not just a suit. I want the poetry back in my life.” https://www.wsj.com/... [image] @msn : Gerald M. “Jerry” Levin, a television executive who rose to the top of Time Warner and orchestrated its ill-fated merger with America Online, which defined his legacy, died Wednesday at the age of 84 in Long Beach, Calif. #GeraldLevin #TimeWarner #AOL https://www.msn.com/... [image] @business : Gerald Levin, who helped lead Time Warner's rise into a late 20th century media powerhouse, as well as its disastrous first step into the internet age, has died at 84 https://www.bloomberg.com/... @washingtonpost : Gerald M. Levin, one of the creators of HBO and former chief executive of Time Warner who orchestrated its ill-fated mega merger with AOL, has died at 84. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Ken Frankel / @kifcap : It is sad his legacy was the AOL merger. My firm was a big holder of TWX. We sold the day the deal was announced which was peak. When I saw him at my local health club he avoided me because he thought I was upset by AOL deal, but we were out. https://www.nytimes.com/... Jeff Harris / @nemalki : It was under Levin's leadership, as chairman of the network as well as in his role at Time Warner, that HBO grew into the brand it remains for over 50 years. It was under Levin that Time Warner became a powerhouse in theaters, television, newsstands, music stores & comic racks. See also Mediagazer