Behind every successful business, there's a battle to get to the top, and sometimes that battle

ends in disaster. Back in 2000, AOL was at the height of its power. Then it made a move that stunned

Wall Street. It made a bid to buy Time Warner, one of the most powerful media companies in the world.

It was supposed to be the merger of the century, but instead, it turned

into one of the messiest corporate disasters on record. This season of business wars takes

you into that moment when ambition, ego, and emerging tech collided. You'll hear how a deal

meant to secure dominance in the digital age collapsed under its own weight. But before any of that

could happen, AOL had to overcome the odds

to get America online. I'm about to play you a clip from the latest season of business wars,

the AOL Time Warner disaster. While you're listening, follow Business Wars on the Wondery app

or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the mid-80s, online services seem like a business full of promise.

Fewer than one in ten owns a computer in 1985, but that number is creeping up.

So while there are established rivals like CompuSER,

there's plenty of room for growth. CBC decides it will build an online service for the market leading personal computer of the day, the Commodore 64. And in May 1985, they mark this new direction by adopting a new name, quantum computer services.

Oh, you thought they were about to become AOL, huh? Well, not yet. But that moment's coming. But what exactly is an online service in 1985?

We're not talking about the Internet here, let alone the World Wide Web.

That's years away.

In 1985, the online universe is made up of competing subscription services.

They offer the stuff we take for granted nowadays, email, chat, shopping, and news.

But in 1985, each service is separate and self-contained. For instance, CompuServe users can't email

quantum users and vice versa. And online services are slow. So slow. How slow? Well, when CBC became quantum simple mines,

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