Ted Turner quits as AOL losses announced

Fourth-quarter losses skyrocketed at AOL Time Warner after a staggering €45.5bn (€42bn) charge to account for the struggling media conglomerate’s plunging value.

The company also announced last night that former cable TV mogul Ted Turner was stepping down as vice-chairman.

In the three months ending December 31, AOL lost $44.9bn (€41bn), compared with a loss of $1.8bn (€1.6bn) in the fourth quarter of 2001.

Turner, who pioneered cable television and built CNN before selling to Time Warner in 1996, will leave in May. He has long been reported to be unhappy with his diminished role since the merger with AOL, but AOL chief Richard Parsons said Turner wanted to spend more time on his philanthropic endeavours.

Turner’s exit coincides with the pending departure of Chairman Steve Case, the America Online co-founder.

Whether Turner – who owns more than 3% of the company – will remain on AOL’s board at all will be determined in the next few weeks, spokeswoman Mia Carbonell said.

Executives said they expect 2003 revenue to grow “in the mid-single-digits” and earnings before taxes and depreciation to be essentially flat. Analysts had been forecasting roughly 5% growth in revenue.

Two years after AOL and Time Warner’s merger, which could be considered the crowning moment of the Internet boom, the company has been forced to justify the rationale for the deal and overcome questions about its accounting.

The bright spot has been Time Warner’s media properties, which include CNN, Warner Music, Time and People magazines and the Warner Bros film division that boasts blockbuster franchises like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. The weak link has been the AOL online division.