SAN FRANCISO (AP) — Gerald Levin, who led Time Warner Media into a disastrous $182 billion merger with the internet provider America Online, died Wednesday at the age of 84, according to media reports.

Levin was determined to have Parkinson’s disease, but the reason for his death was not immediately disclosed. His grandchild, Jake Maia Arlow, confirmed his passing to two newspapers, the New York Times and the Washington Post, but did not respond to a request for confirmation from The Associated Press.

Levin became a member of the Time team in the early 1970s, when the company was in the process of transitioning from print magazines to cable television. Levin, a lawyer-turned-idealistic person, had previously worked for an international development company in Colombia and Tehran for a few years. According to journalist Nina Munk’s 2004 book “Fools Rush In,” Levin was intrigued by the opportunities for change within the business world, specifically in cable television.

According to the book, Levin compared his current enthusiasm to his previous job in development, stating that “water, electricity, and television” were all similar. This mindset led him to become a vice president of programming at Time’s new cable network, Home Box Office (HBO), in 1972.

In just 24 months, Levin, who was the president of HBO at the time, successfully persuaded Time executives to allocate a staggering $7.5 million for the distribution of HBO’s signal through satellite. This eliminated the necessity for costly ventures such as laying cable or constructing microwave networks across the United States. The link officially launched in September 1975, enabling the company to air the highly anticipated boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, famously known as “the Thrilla in Manila,” live for HBO subscribers.

According to Munk’s book, Levin quickly gained a reputation as the “resident genius” within the company. By 1980, he was leading Time’s video division and waiting for the right opportunity. In 1987, he played a major role in negotiating a large merger between Time and Warner Bros. Studios, and shortly after was tasked with defending against a takeover bid from another studio. In the end, he managed to secure a successful $14.9 billion purchase of Warner in 1990, which resulted in a significant amount of debt for the newly merged company.

Levin spent two more years before officially becoming CEO of Time Warner. After that, it took four more years to protect against various offers and resolve internal conflicts before he came up with his next major breakthrough. This was known as the “information superhighway” or the Full Service Network, an innovative idea for a constantly active, interactive platform for entertainment and communication. Despite promoting the idea, Time Warner was unable to fully develop it. As a result, the company’s stocks suffered.

Levin and his top deputies had unintentionally disregarded the impact of the internet, but it ultimately revolutionized the way people interacted in their homes, workplaces, and on their phones worldwide. This was not immediately recognized, however. It wasn’t until the middle of 1997, when Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, invested $1 billion in cable giant Comcast to boost its internet offerings, that investors began to understand the significance of cable networks as internet providers.

Around the time when AOL, a pioneer in online social services, was searching for a way to use its high-valued stock to gain tangible assets, CEO Steve Case had his sights on Time Warner. He believed that the company’s physical entertainment assets and cable network would be a great fit. Once he was able to connect with Time Warner’s CEO, Case not only proposed a merger, but also offered for the executive to be the CEO of the newly combined company.

Levin was not interested. On paper, AOL was valued at twice the amount of Time Warner, but Levin believed it was overvalued due to the hype surrounding the internet. However, he decided to meet Case for dinner to discuss it. The two got along well and that night, on November 1, 1999, they essentially agreed to a “merger of equals.”

The two parties engaged in a heated disagreement regarding their respective levels of control in the merged company. AOL demanded the majority share due to their continually increasing stock price. Ultimately, on January 7th, 2000, Time Warner accepted a split of 45% and 55%, with AOL holding the larger portion. Three days after, the Wall Street Journal revealed the deal’s value of $182 billion, and a formal statement was released by the companies that same morning.

Finalizing the agreement, although it required much effort, proved to be the simpler aspect. Throughout the discussions, Levin’s team found their AOL counterparts to be uncivil and loud, while the AOLers believed Time Warner executives to be slow and resistant to understanding the true worth of the internet. These negative sentiments did not dissipate over time, especially when AOL’s stocks plummeted during the bursting of the dot-com bubble.

Levin remained in his position as long as possible, but eventually reached a breaking point in the autumn of 2001. At this time, he started to consider acquiring AT&T’s cable system without discussing it with Case. Case was furious when he found out about this. Just after Thanksgiving, Case presented Levin with an ultimatum: step down from his position or be fired by the board. Feeling defeated, Levin quickly announced that he would retire early in May of the following year.

The company experienced a record loss of $98.7 billion in 2002. In 2003, Time Warner removed “AOL” from its name and in 2009, AOL was spun off as an independent company, undoing the merger that Levin had worked hard to achieve.

Source: wral.com