Aol Time Warner Merger By Nina Munk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Aol conviction Warner Merger By Nina Munk - Essay ExampleDuring the same year the groups recording and music issue arm was sold for US$2.6 billion to a consortium led by Edgar Bronfman (former head of Universal), becoming Warner Music.Fools Rush In, by Nina Munk, a contributing editor program at Vanity Fair, is the best so far. Marrying exemplary reporting with lively, lucid writing, she makes a convincing and devastating at the same time case that Levin ruin the legacy of Henry Luce, the founder of Time Inc., in the service of his ego. Levin wanted to redeem his weak performance at the companys helm with what he liked to bellow a transforming transaction. He had already transformed Time once, in 1990, when he helped engineer its optical fusion with Warner Communications. That was another lousy deal. What he transformed in the AOL merger was $200 billion of his shareholders money into nothing.Munks entry to the growing list of record books about the AOL Time Warner merger provi des a thorough recap of the catastrophe, with the author coming to her possess conclusion on the causes behind the mergers failure. After more than 100 pages of the obligatory background on AOL and its chairman, Steve Case, and Time Warner and chairman Jerry Levin, Munk begins to make her argument that Case and Levin, who ran their companies with fewer checks and balances, bear the greatest responsibility for orchestrating a deal that had little chance to succeed. She presses her case by hitting hard on the fact that few Time Warner executives knew about the pending deal until hours before it was announced, and that even fewer executives supported the proposal. That due diligence for the $165-billion merger only took three days and that many of the unified companys top managers sold large chunks of stock (including Case who sold shares worth $100 million) shortly after the deal closed is further proof to Munk that the cabal was not well thought out and that many managers had dou bts about its success from the very beginning. For readers looking for a quick review of events surrounding the AOL Time Warner merger, Munks book fits the bill, but for those who are already well versed on the subject, Munk (a contributing editor at Vanity Fair) adds little new information. Many readers will align Munks book comparable in terms of entertainment value (especially humor) as well as quality of thinking and writing. Both were thoroughly researched. The completion of apiece was aided and enriched by dozens of rigorous interviews of key participants. However, there is one significant difference senior-level executives at Enron (notably Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow) have been accused and some charged with full illegalities whereas none of those involved with the merger of AOL and Time Warner have, at least until now. This is a the story of how two men, Jerry Levin and Steve Case, caused what may be the biggest train wreck in the taradiddle of corporate America. Munk goes on to suggest that In broad terms, the disastrous merger of Time Warner and AOL epitomizes the culture of corporate America and Wall Street in the deeply 1900s. Part Three The Big Deal AOL and Time Warner, 1999-2000. Step-by-step, Munk traces the process which eventually resulted in the biggest train wreck in the history of corporate America. I was hypnotised to learn about the nature and extent of Ted Turners involvement amidst corporate intrigues which would have made the Medici envious.Part Four