UPDATE: Powell To Be Among AOL Directors After Spinoff
27 10월 2009 - 1:27AM
Dow Jones News
AOL unveiled a cast of eight media, technology and financial
veterans--including former Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Michael Powell--who have agreed to sit on its board of
directors after the Internet company is spun off from Time Warner
Inc. (TWX) in a deal expected before year end.
The announcement suggests that the spinoff, which will undo one
of the worst deals in corporate history, is on track as the
companies wait for regulatory approval. Its completion will mark a
key step in Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes' plan to
restructure the media conglomerate as a media content provider.
It also adds to AOL's credibility as a stand-alone, publicly
traded company, which already got a boost when Google Inc. (GOOG)
veteran Tim Armstrong signed on as its chief executive last spring.
AOL continues to struggle as subscribers to its dial-up Internet
service dwindle, while its digital media businesses slog through an
advertising slump.
Armstrong will sit on the board as chairman with Powell, son of
Gen. Colin Powell and FCC chairman from 2001 to 2005; former Public
Broadcasting Corp. Chief Executive Patricia Mitchell; former
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) Chief Information Officer Richard Dalzell;
former CBS Corp. (CBS) Chief Financial Officer Fredric Reynolds and
former William Morris Agency Chief Executive James Wyatt.
Its board will also include William Hambrecht, founder of WR
Hambrecht & Co., the financial services firm that managed
initial public offerings for Amazon.com and Apple Inc. (AAPL);
Karen Dykstra, former chief financial officer with Automated Data
Processing Inc. (ADP) who is now a partner with Plainfield Asset
Management; and James Stengel, a former marketing executive with
Procter & Gamble Co (PG).
Time Warner and AOL were combined in a $100 billion merger in
2001 with disastrous results. Their separation is expected to
provide both companies with a chance to remake themselves at a time
when the media landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation
amid the rise of digital media.
-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2472;
nat.worden@dowjones.com
(Kevin Kingsbury contributed to this article.)