Time Warner drops AOL from its name

The board of AOL Time Warner has voted to remove AOL from its name in a final postscript to the Internet bubble and a sign of…

The board of AOL Time Warner has voted to remove AOL from its name in a final postscript to the Internet bubble and a sign of the failure of the company's attempt to unite old and new media.

The company was formed in 2001 when America Online, the leading Internet company, purchased Time Warner, owner of Timemagazine, CNN, and Warner Bros, and promised to transform the media industry.

But just months after the $112 billion deal, the technology bubble burst, the value of the AOL online division plunged, and it became a drag on the whole company.

Khaki-clad new media prophets from America Online clashed with executives from the more traditional businesses, and the company failed to deliver the promised integration.

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The company said that the change will be completed in the next few weeks, when its stock will trade under Time Warner's old "TWX" symbol on the New York Stock Exchange, instead of "AOL".

The symbolic unravelling began in January, when Mr Steve Case, the founder and co-architect of the deal, resigned as chairman of the company. Mr Case remains on the board of directors.