AOL Time Warner Inc. History
Address:
Telephone: (212) 484-8000
Fax: (212) 489-6183
Website: www.aoltimewarner.com
75 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, New York 10019
U.S.A.
New York, New York 10019
U.S.A.
Telephone: (212) 484-8000
Fax: (212) 489-6183
Website: www.aoltimewarner.com
Public Company
Incorporated: 2001
Employees: 88,500
Sales: $40.96 billion (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: AOL
NAIC: 514191 On-Line Information Services; 541519 Other Computer Related Services; 512110 Motion Picture and Video Production; 512120 Motion Picture and Video Distribution (pt); 511120 Periodical Publishers (pt); 511130 Book Publishers; 513210 Cable Networks; 513120 Television Broadcasting; 334612 Prerecorded Compact Disc (Except Software), Tape, and Record Reproducing (pt); 711211 Sports Teams and Clubs
Incorporated: 2001
Employees: 88,500
Sales: $40.96 billion (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: AOL
NAIC: 514191 On-Line Information Services; 541519 Other Computer Related Services; 512110 Motion Picture and Video Production; 512120 Motion Picture and Video Distribution (pt); 511120 Periodical Publishers (pt); 511130 Book Publishers; 513210 Cable Networks; 513120 Television Broadcasting; 334612 Prerecorded Compact Disc (Except Software), Tape, and Record Reproducing (pt); 711211 Sports Teams and Clubs
Company Perspectives:
Our Mission is to become the world's most respected and valued company by connecting, informing and entertaining people everywhere in innovative ways that will enrich their lives.
Key Dates:
- 1903:
- The Warner brothers open their own movie theater in Newcastle, Pennsylvania.
- 1911:
- The Warners produce their first film, Perils of the Plains.
- 1915:
- Sam and Jack Warner move to Los Angeles, setting up film production studios, while Harry and Albert Warner set up distribution company in New York.
- 1923:
- Briton Hadden and Henry Robinson Luce publish the first issue of Time magazine.
- 1924:
- Hadden and Luce launch their second publication, the Saturday Review of Literature.
- 1925:
- Warner Bros. acquires Vitagraph Studios in New York, launches Vitaphone joint venture.
- 1927:
- Warner Bros. release The Jazz Singer and revolutionizes film history by introducing the "talkie."
- 1929:
- Warner Bros. acquires Stanley-Crandall movie theater network
- 1930:
- Time Inc. publishes the first issue of Fortune.
- 1936:
- Company publishes the first issue of Life.
- 1949:
- Warner Bros. is forced to sell off its movie theater network.
- 1954:
- Company launches Sports Illustrated.
- 1961:
- Company forms Time-Life Books, a book publishing subsidiary.
- 1966:
- Jack Warner sells Warner Bros. to Seven Arts.
- 1969:
- Kinney National Services acquires Warner Bros. (and renames itself Warner Communications in 1971).
- 1970:
- Ted Turner acquires first television station in Atlanta, forming future Turner Broadcasting System.
- 1972:
- Time ceases publication of Life; launches Home Box Office (HBO) cable TV network and Money magazine.
- 1974:
- Company publishes first issue of People.
- 1976:
- Turner renames his television station as Superstation TBS and begins supplying programming to cable television operators.
- 1980:
- Time launches Cinemax cable TV network; TBS launches CNN.
- 1985:
- Steve Case forms Quantum Computer Services, Inc. to provide online service for Commodore computer users.
- 1988:
- Quantum introduces an online service for owners of IBM computers.
- 1989:
- Quantum begins offering an online service for Apple computer users; introduces "America Online," a new nationwide network for computer owners.
- 1990:
- Time Inc. acquires Warner Communications, forming Time Warner Inc.
- 1991:
- Quantum Computer Services changes its name to America Online.
- 1992:
- Time Warner forms Time Warner Entertainment subsidiary to house its cable companies; America Online (AOL) makes an initial public offering, announces an alliance with Apple Computer.
- 1993:
- AOL introduces an online service designed specifically for Windows users.
- 1996:
- Time Warner acquires Turner Broadcasting System.
- 1998:
- America Online acquires Internet service provider Compuserve.
- 1999:
- AOL acquires Netscape, as well as MovieFone, Spinner, and NullSoft.
- 2001:
- AOL acquires Time Warner in a $106 billion megamerger.
- 2003:
- Company proposes dropping "AOL" from its name.
Company History:
Further Reading:
- Barakat, Michael, "America Online's Goal Is 'AOL Anywhere,'" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 11, 2000, p. B8.
- Bianco, Anthony, and Tom Lowry, "Can Dick Parsons Rescue AOL Time Warner?," Business Week, May 19, 2003.
- Brown, Rich, "Viacom, Time Warner Bury the Hatchet," Broadcasting, August 24, 1992.
- Bruck, Connie, Master of the Game: Steve Ross and the Creation of Time Warner, New York: Viking Penguin, 1995.
- Elson, Robert T., Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise--1923-1941, New York: Athenaeum, 1968.
- ------, The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise--1941-1960, New York: Athenaeum, 1973.
- Eng, Paul M., "America Online Is Hooked Up for Growth," Business Week, June 21, 1993.
- Fabrikant, Geraldine, "Time Warner Shows Gains As It Shrinks Merger's Debt," New York Times, February 9, 1993.
- Fass, Allison, "AOL Time Over?," Forbes, June 23, 2003, p. 49.
- Gunther, Marc, "The Internet Is Mr. Case's Neighborhood," Fortune, March 30, 1998, pp. 68-77.
- Higgins, John M., "Black Ink, Slow Growth at Time Warner," Multichannel News, April 27, 1992.
- "Internet Riders," Economist, November 28, 1998, pp. 63-64.
- Loomis, Carol J., "Why AOL's Accounting Problems Keep Popping Up," Fortune, April 28, 2003, p. 85.
- Miller, Michael W., "Tycoon Is Tapping into Online Service," Wall Street Journal, May 24, 1993.
- Prendergast, Curtis, and Geoffrey Colvin, The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise--1960-1980, New York: Athenaeum, 1986.
- Ramo, Joshua Cooper, John Greenwald, and Michael Krantz, "How AOL Lost the Battles but Won the War," Time, September 22, 1997, pp. 46-54.
- Schwartz, Evan I., "For America Online, Nothing Is As Nice As a Niche," Business Week, September 14, 1992.
- Shook, David, "Will Cable Be AOL's Lifeline?," Business Week, March 10, 2003.
- Siklos, Richard, et al., "Welcome to the 21st Century: With One Stunning Stroke, AOL and Time Warner Create a Colossus and Redefine the Future," Business Week, January 24, 2000, p. 36.
- Swisher, Kara, AOL.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web, New York: Crown Publishing Group, 1999.
- "Time Warner Refinances $6.2B Debt," Multichannel News, May 18, 1992.
- Wooten, Terry, Planet AOL: From "Anywhere" to "Everywhere" with Time Warner and Beyond, New York: Prentice Hall Press, 2001.
- Yang, Catherine, et al., "Richard Parsons Leaps the First Hurdle," Business Week, May 19, 2003.
- ------, "Show Time for AOL Time Warner," Business Week, January 15, 2001, p. 56.
Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 57. St. James Press, 2004.