Creative Babble.

You know, we all love a good story about deception, power plays, and things going terribly wrong behind the scenes.

So get this. Before the internet was in everyone's pocket, AOL was one of the few companies racing to bring America online with services we take for granted

now, with email and instant messenger.

Then, in 2000, they went after a whale and offered to buy Media Giant Time Warner.

It was supposed to be the deal of the century, but instead it turned out to be one of the messiest corporate disasters

in history. So what went wrong? Was it corporate sabotage, greed, or a complete culture clash? The podcast,

business wars, takes you behind the biggest moments in business to explore how they shape our future.

In the latest season, they dive into the AOL Time Warner merger.

The deal was made to embrace the future during the rise of the World Wide Web, but ended up in flames.

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 podcast.

It's September 27, 2000, and at AOL's head office in Dulles, Virginia, the end of the quarter is near.

And that's got the business affairs team worried.

When the merger with Time Warner was announced, AOL's stock traded at more than $70.

Now it's hovering just above 55. That's over a 20% decline.

And that's a problem.

The merger deal was agreed based on AOL's share price before the bottom fell out of tech

stocks.

And the lower AOL stock sinks?

The more investors wonder if Time Warner might be wiser to abandon the merger.

So far, Time Warner boss Jerry Levin has dismissed that idea and reiterated his commitment to the merger.

...