Gerald M. Levin, the media executive who orchestrated the disastrous merger of Time Warner and AOL, died Wednesday. He was 84.
Levin’s grandchild Jake Maia Arlow confirmed his death to the New York Times, saying that Levin died in a hospital and lived in Long Beach, Calif. While a cause of death was not disclosed, Levin had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Levin was named co-CEO of Time Warner alongside Steven J. Ross in 1992; he became the sole chief executive when Ross died months later from prostate cancer.
Levin and then-AOL CEO Steve Case announced the $350 billion deal to merge the two companies on Jan. 10, 2000, at the height of the dot-com bubble. After the merger, creating AOL Time Warner, the dot-com recession and terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, greatly affected the company, leading to a historic $100 billion write-down.
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Source Agencies
