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AOL Time Warner loss: $100-billion
©Associated Press AOL Time Warner reported losses of nearly $100-billion for 2002, a record-setting loss that is attributable to a drop of more than $33.5-billion in the value of its America Online unit since the firm merged with Time Warner in January 2001. AOL Time Warner chief executive officer Richard Parsons also announced that Ted Turner, the billionaire media mogul who pioneered cable television and built CNN, is stepping down in May as vice chairman. Turner sold his cable empire to Time Warner in 1996. He has long been reported to be unhappy with his diminished role since the Time Warner-AOL merger. "I have not come to this decision lightly," Turner, 64, said in a statement Wednesday. "As you know, this company has been a significant part of my life for over 50 years." Turner was uncharacteristically understated as he attempted to tiptoe away from the media powerhouse he helped create, talking only about his desire to focus on his philanthropic endeavors. "Over the last five years, it has become even clearer to me how much personal satisfaction I derive from these activities," he said. "Therefore, I would like to now devote even more time, effort and resources to them." Turner pledged $1-billion to the United Nations in 1997, and committed $250-million over five years to reducing nuclear arsenals. He also gives about $50-million each year to the Turner Foundation, sending the money to causes ranging from promotion of population control to saving woodpeckers and black-footed ferrets. Whether Turner -- who owns more than 3 percent of AOL Time Warner -- will remain on AOL's board will be determined in the next few weeks, a company spokeswoman said. In the three months ending Dec. 31, AOL said Wednesday, it lost $44.9-billion, or $10.04 per share, compared with a loss of $1.8-billion, or 41 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2001. Revenue rose 8 percent to $11.4-billion. AOL Time Warner took a $45.5-billion charge to account for the company's plunging value. Without that "goodwill writedown," the company said its results actually beat Wall Street estimates. Not counting one-time items, AOL said it would have earned 28 cents per share. Analysts had predicted 26 cents per share. The announcements were made after the markets closed. AOL stock closed higher, up 30 cents per share at $13.96 on the New York Stock Exchange. The massive writedown disclosed Wednesday follows a $54-billion charge taken in the first quarter to account for the company's stock decline. At the time, it was the biggest quarterly loss in U.S. business history. For all of 2002, AOL lost $98.7-billion, or $22.15 per share, on revenue of $41.1-billion. Two years ago America Online and Time Warner announced their $106-billion merger, a crowning moment of the Internet boom. Turner became a vice chairman and an adviser. Since then the company has been forced to justify the mega-deal, overcome accounting questions and plot a turnaround. The top executives who assembled the merger are gone, including AOL co-founder Steve Case, who announced his resignation as AOL Time Warner chairman this month. Tom Johnson, a former chief executive at CNN and close friend of Turner, said the problems at AOL have been hard on Turner. "Ted was anguished by many of the revelations as it related to AOL and certainly disappointed in the near collapse of the stock, which affected his foundation and affected very much the assets of many of the people that helped him build Turner," Johnson said. "I know he's concerned. But only Ted can tell us why he did what he did today." In December 2001, when Turner signed a new contract with AOL Time Warner in which he would remain vice chairman, he said he had been unhappy with his role with the company under Gerald Levin as chief executive. He complained publicly that Levin, who later retired, had essentially "fired" him because his duties were limited. Ted TurnerAGE: 64. Born Nov. 19, 1938, in Cincinnati EDUCATION: Brown University OCCUPATION: AOL Time Warner Inc. vice chairman, departing in May 2003. CAREER: In December 1976, started "SuperStation" concept, transmitting via satellite from WTBS television station in Atlanta to cable systems nationwide. In June 1980, started CNN, first live, 24-hour, all-news television network. In 1985, made unsuccessful, $5-billion bid for CBS. In 1996, sold TBS for $7.6-billion to Time Warner. PERSONAL: Divorced three times, including 10-year marriage to actor Jane Fonda; five children. OTHER: In January 1976, bought baseball Atlanta Braves, followed by pro basketball Atlanta Hawks a year later. In 1977, was captain of winning yacht in America's Cup. . . . In 1985, established Goodwill Games in partnership with the Soviet Union. . . . In 1997, pledged $1-billion to United Nations.
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