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The Incredible Shrinking AOL
Layoffs Stalk AOL
AOL Layoffs Tomorrow to Kick Off Depressing Holiday Season?
AOL and Time Inc CEOs Meet to Discuss Merger?
A Dramatic Google Goodbye
Why Delay AOL's Mass Layoffs?
Did Elisabeth Murdoch Just Get Conned?
AOL's CEO Calls for 'Laser Focus,' Fires People
Why Warren Buffett and Martha Stewart Just Showed Up at an AOL Meeting
Michael Jackson Traffic Melts Entire Internet

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If_I_Had_a_Poodle
11/19/09

In reply to The Incredible Shrinking AOL
Eeerily close to a decade since AOL swallowed Time-Warner
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snugbug
11/19/09

@If_I_Had_a_Poodle: I was really hoping that this thread would turn into a funeral commemoration about the good-olde days when AOL gobbled up Time Warner. I was working for the Fortune Group (which is part of Time Inc.) in 2000, at the precise moment when the merger hit, and I have some incredible stories.

We all had stock options as part of our employee package, and were gleefully monitoring the skyrocketing stock prices. Also, in the spring of 2000, the Fortune mag publisher whisked ALL the national staff--editorial, ad sales, the whole crew, including assistants and such--on a one-week, all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii. (That was because the Fortune Group overtook People in ad revenue at the height of the dotcom boom, and the publisher wanted to celebrate that.)

We all stayed in $500 rooms at the Four Seasons Manele Bay Hotel on the island of Lana'i. Everyone had rooms with an ocean view and got comped spa treatments. It's only 9 years ago, but it feels like it happened in some kind of mythical, fairy tale realm.
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badasscat
11/19/09

In reply to The Incredible Shrinking AOL
There's a "You've got Mail!" joke in here somewhere. There always is.
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miss_msry
11/09/09

In reply to AOL Layoffs Tomorrow to Kick Off Depressing Holiday Season?
At least when I got laid off, the Southern Baptist prick delayed from Good Friday (because the Judge hadn't signed off on the closure of a major metro newspaper actually making money and the firing of nearly 1,900 people) to the Monday after Easter. Did I mention he was and still is a rich prick? #aol
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Edited by miss_msry at 11/09/09 8:07 PM miss_msry was starred miss_msry was unstarred

Mediahohoho
10/22/09

In reply to AOL and Time Inc CEOs Meet to Discuss Merger?
Synergy! #timeinc
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Magister
10/10/09

In reply to A Dramatic Google Goodbye
That's hot.
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SpyMagician
10/09/09

In reply to A Dramatic Google Goodbye
She’s cool. I expected to this be cringeworthy, but she’s good.
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yojeezy
10/10/09

@SpyMagician: In fact, I think cringeworthy is the perfect description for this. Let me guess- she was in Whim n Rhythm and she still thinks it's cool/cute to randomly bust out with her oddly self-assured vocal stylings like all the singing group rushes who would inexplicably start singing "Carolina on my Mind" in the middle of Cross Campus. Man, Yale sucks - this just reminds me of how much.
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Tremonius
10/09/09

In reply to A Dramatic Google Goodbye
I like her. She has heart and style. I'm glad nobody is dumping on it yet. I like it. There is a predisposition in every audience. At one of those Armenia's-got-no-talent shows, the tendency is to sneer. On Oprah, everybody likes everything. I'm not sure which is best, but I like this video.
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TheBusinessGuy
10/09/09

In reply to A Dramatic Google Goodbye
Years ago, this magazine I worked on had a farewell staff meeting on the day it folded. One musical-theater-and-film loving member of the staff touchingly serenaded us with "They Can't Take That Away From Me." After she finished, a colleague complimented her on the song--and then asked if she wrote it. Did I mention that this magazine covered arts and culture, among other things? Just reminiscing here. Now I have to take my tonic and go to bed.
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Edited by TheBusinessGuy at 10/09/09 8:11 PM TheBusinessGuy was starred TheBusinessGuy was unstarred

onebadclam
10/09/09

In reply to A Dramatic Google Goodbye
Seriously, three years? Is that the new longevity standard?
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Rock tha Hizzee
10/05/09

In reply to Why Delay AOL's Mass Layoffs?
It takes a long time to get all those layoff CDs printed and mailed out.
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FormerEnglishMajor
10/05/09

In reply to Why Delay AOL's Mass Layoffs?
Well, as an investor-type, I can tell you that the reason these things are postponed is so that, when Newco is public, they can make this really positive-sounding announcement that there will be cost cuts (downsizing), and all the sell-side analysts will run to their models and raise their earnings targets because hey! a one-time charge for layoffs doesn't flow through your "normalized" earnings-per-share, but the benefits over time do.

So I'd say it's a bit of window-dressing and smoke and mirrors, as these spinoffs usually are.
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daveyjonesisdead
10/05/09

@FormerEnglishMajor: and their year over year comparisons next year will be great because the first year will be burdened by the charge, right? so they'll make it look like, unburdened of Time Warner, they were finally able to unlock value.
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FormerEnglishMajor
10/05/09

@daveyjonesisdead: Yes. Not making the announcement isn't to prevent anything on Time Warner's part, but to put the finger on the scale on AOL's behalf. AOL doesn't have subscriber growth (quite the opposite), so the only way they can show earnings growth is by cutting costs, hard. Companies like Time Warner are "on the hook" for a bit after the spinoff (you don't want people suing you for fraudulent conveyance), so they try to save all the good news for the spinoff until after the company is on its own.
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FormerEnglishMajor
10/05/09

@daveyjonesisdead: Yay daveyjones for getting starred!
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Unsolicited Advice
10/05/09

In reply to Why Delay AOL's Mass Layoffs?
Time Warner doesn't want to compensate exiting employees. AOL can't afford a "deep restructuring" to be taking place during the sales process for the IPO to investors. Most importantly, I'd cynically state that the turd in the hand is worth way less than the birds in the bush here and that the sales process isn't exactly employing a frank appraisal of the company's future prospects.
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MeganZegan
09/17/09

In reply to Did Elisabeth Murdoch Just Get Conned?
Uh.... She was not the primary owner of Bebo. The vast majority of the $850 million was decidedly NOT hers. Nice research there gawker.
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jackbarber
09/18/09

@MeganZegan: To be fair Gawker only said she sold the company. No comment made about how much Joanna owned.

About your issue you should speak w/ miss_msry.

Still think it's a stupid post though.
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miss_msry
09/17/09

In reply to Did Elisabeth Murdoch Just Get Conned?
Shields bagged $850 million 18 months ago and now she wants someone else to bankroll her? Watch out Ms. Murdoch.
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jackbarber
09/17/09

In reply to Did Elisabeth Murdoch Just Get Conned?
Given that you, Valleywag, have no idea as to the terms of the Shields/Murdoch arrangement, this is kind of a stupid post.

Also, not that the Swish is any sort of beacon for factual reporting, ATD does state that the venture is funded by both ladies.

Peace out!
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