Who was the CEO of AOL when it merged with Time Warner in 2000?

Steve Case was AOL’s CEO when America Online announced its merger with Time Warner in 2000. Case joined the company that became AOL in the 1980s, became CEO in 1995 and helped transform it from an online service into one of the internet era’s most powerful consumer brands.

AOL and Time Warner announced the deal on January 10, 2000, describing it as a merger of equals valued at roughly $165 billion to $184 billion depending on the measurement used. Case became chairman of the combined AOL Time Warner, while Time Warner’s Gerald Levin became its CEO.

The transaction was completed in January 2001 after regulatory review, so “the merger in 2000” usually refers to the announcement rather than the legal closing. Bob Pittman was a major AOL executive, but he was not the company’s CEO at the announcement. The merger later became a famous example of the risks of combining internet and traditional-media businesses at the peak of the dot-com boom.