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Gerald M. Levin, former Time Warner chief, dies at 84

Levin was considered a leader in the industry but ultimately came to be known as the executive who orchestrated the ill-fated merger between Time Warner and AOL in 2000.

By Andrew Jeong | 2024-03-14

Gerald M. Levin, right, attends a hearing on the Time Warner-AOL merger, alongside AOL's Steve Case in September 2000. (Robert A. Reeder/The Washington Post)

Gerald M. Levin, one of the creators of HBO and the former chief executive of Time Warner who orchestrated its ill-fated mega merger with AOL, died Wednesday in Long Beach, Calif. He was 84.

His grandchild Jake Maia Arlow confirmed the death but did not give a cause, saying only that he had Parkinson's disease.

Mr. Levin was the chairman of Time Warner when he agreed to sell the company in an all-stock transaction worth $184 billion to the upstart internet company AOL in 2000. The merger, one of the highest-valued deals ever, ultimately flopped. The new company's stocks quickly tanked, and the new entity announced a quarterly loss of $54 billion in April 2002.

Mr. Levin became the chief executive of the merged company but abruptly said in December 2001, after less than a year at the helm, that he was leaving amid a worsening tech market and a sluggish economy, The Washington Post reported.

Mr. Levin described his resignation at the time as "an intensely personal thing," related to the 1997 slaying of his son Jonathan and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Jonathan Levin, an English teacher at William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx, was murdered by a former student.

Mr. Levin later apologized for his role in the merger. "I was the CEO. I was in charge. I'm really very sorry about the pain and suffering and loss that was caused," he said during a 2010 interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Before the merger, Mr. Levin had built Time Warner into a media empire that held dominant positions in book, magazine, television and movie production. He led Time's acquisition of Warner in 1990, then wed the merged company, Time Warner, with Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting Systems, in 1995, in a $7.5 billion deal.

Earlier, Mr. Levin served at a then-developing Time subsidiary, joining Home Box Office (HBO) in 1972. In 1975, he decided to start distributing HBO content via satellite, helping create the modern cable industry.

Before his corporate career, he was a lawyer, working for the New York City firm Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett from 1963 to 1967, after law school at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was born on May 6, 1939, in Philadelphia. Survivors include four children and seven grandchildren. Mr. Levin was married and divorced three times.

"To me and my cousins, he was our Zaidie," Arlow said in an emailed statement, using the Yiddish word for grandpa.

Arlow, the author of several books, recalled how their mother would read their work to Mr. Levin over the phone. "He would call me when they were done reading and tell me how proud he was of me. I loved him very dearly."


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