AOL Merger Was A Mistake Says Co-Founder
Published: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
AOL MERGER WAS A MISTAKE
Top AOL exec says he wants to "undo" the deal of the century
Many readers use the America Online (AOL) service, and we therefore thought
that recent comments made in an essay in The Washington Post by AOL co-founder
Steve Case should be reported in Online-Casinos.com & InfoPowa News.
Case, who played an instrumental role in merging the online company into Time
Warner, now says he wants to "undo" the merger, which cost Time Warner
shareholders billions of dollars.
"Although I played a key role in bringing AOL and Time Warner together six
years ago," Case wrote this week, "it's now my view that it would be
best to 'undo' the merger by splitting Time Warner into several independent companies
and allowing AOL to set off on its own path."
Case's comments, which also included criticisms of Time Warner management, came
as the firm continued negotiations with Microsoft and Google over possible partnerships
with the AOL unit. The negotiations, which are said to involve Microsoft using
its search engine, are being carried out as Wall Street financier Carl Icahn continues
to blast Time Warner management, too. Both men are substantial stockholders in
Time Warner.
In his essay, Case noted that the AOL-Time Warner "merger of the century"
quickly became "the worst merger in history." Case said most criticism
of the merger has focused on its failure to yield expected benefits to Time Warner.
"It is worth noting that the combination has not helped AOL much either,"
he wrote.
As for Time Warner's current management team, its members have said they are focused
on their own plan for improving shareholder value. Google currently provides search
capability to AOL. An AOL-Microsoft deal, however, could result in AOL dropping
Google. For its part, Google said it intends to continue to work closely and successfully
with AOL.
