AOL & Time Warner: How the “Deal of a Century” Was Over in a Decade

In 2001, AOL and Time Warner came together in the midst of the rise of the internet to become, as the annual filing stated that year “the world’s first fully integrated, internet-powered media and communications company.” The company would “undertake a number of business initiatives to advance cross-divisional activities, including cross promotions of the Company’s various businesses, cross-divisional advertising opportunities, and shared infrastructures.” (Annual 10K Filing. March, 2001) However, the nearly decade long relationship between the two was tumultuous at best, and never panned out as the architects had hoped. (Arango, 2010) As the .com era bubble started shrinking and bullish targets were not met, the wishful synergies between the two began to collapse. An even bigger problem between the two companies was that… “Both sides seemed, to hate one another.”(Arango, 2010) Not only were the two companies businesses entirely different from one another making it difficult to agree on anything, the executives at the top were having trouble implementing synergistic practices. From the time merger went through, it seemed almost immediate to everyone involved that there were going to be significant problems. In the years to come, AOL Time Warner suffered a tumultuous relationship that caused monetary loss across the board. (Klein 2003) AOL and Time Warner were about to meet a fate that no one saw coming, which was an historic blow to the media industry and Wall Street alike. The “Deal of a Century” (Times Online, 2009) quickly became the worst deal in history. (Arango, 2010)M.S., Television Management -- Drexel University, 201