NEW YORK (voa) – The chairman of the world’s largest media company, AOL Time Warner, will step down following a shareholders’ meeting in May.
Steve Case, who masterminded the mega-merger between America Online and Time Warner, told Reuters news agency his role as chairman has become, in his words, a “distraction” for the company in light of disappointment with its post-merger performance.
Apparently Mr. Case will remain as a director of the company, focusing on corporate strategy.
“This decision was personally very difficult for me, as I would love to serve as chairman of this great company for many years to come, and as an architect of the merger I have felt it was important that I stay the course as chairman and help get things on track,” Case told the board, according to the AOL Time Warner statement.
“However, after careful consideration, I believe stepping down is in the best interest of the company, for three reasons. First, this company does not need distractions at this critical time, and given that some shareholders continue to focus their disappointment with the company’s post-merger performance on me personally, I have concluded that we should take steps now to avoid the possibility of that effort hindering our ability to pull together as a team and focus fully on our businesses.
“Second, important progress has been made over the past year in building a new foundation for the future … Given this progress and the fact that we’re moving into more of an execution phase, this seems like an appropriate time for me to announce that I will step aside.
“Third, I have concluded that I can continue to make a significant contribution even after I step down as chairman by remaining a director and continuing to co-chair the strategy committee,” Case said.
The son of a successful corporate lawyer, Mr. Case went from rock singer, Pizza Hut worker, before joining Control Video, the predecessor of AOL, in the early 80s.
Mr Case subsequently became CEO of AOL, and eventually chairman of the world’s largest media and communications empire. AOL is the biggest internet service provider – it now boasts 30m subscribers.
