Gerald M. Levin, the media executive who orchestrated the disastrous merger of Time Warner and AOL, died Wednesday. He was 84.
Levin’s grandchild Jake Maia Arlow confirmed his death to the New York Times, saying that Levin died in a hospital and lived in Long Beach, Calif. While a cause of death was not disclosed, Levin had battled Parkinson’s disease since being diagnosed in 2006.
Levin was named co-CEO of Time Warner alongside Steven J. Ross in 1992; he assumed the title for himself when Ross died months later from prostate cancer.
Levin and then-AOL CEO Steve Case announced the deal to merge the two companies on Jan. 10, 2000, at the height of the dot-com bubble.
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