Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner (Paperback)

~ (Author) "BY ALL ACCOUNTS, HENRY ROBINSON LUCE WAS ENDOWED WITH moral certainty at birth..." (more)
Key Phrases: new combined company, business affairs division, cable division, Time Inc, Jerry Levin, Wall Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Munk's entry to the growing list of books about the AOL Time Warner merger provides a thorough recap of the debacle, with the author coming to her own conclusion on the causes behind the merger's failure. After more than 100 pages of the obligatory background on AOL and its chairman, Steve Case, and Time Warner and chairman Jerry Levin, Munk begins to make her argument that Case and Levin, who ran their companies with few checks and balances, bear the greatest responsibility for orchestrating a deal that had little chance to succeed. She presses her case by hitting hard on the fact that few Time Warner executives knew about the pending deal until hours before it was announced, and that even fewer executives supported the proposal. That due diligence for the $165-billion merger only took three days and that many of the merged company's top managers sold large chunks of stock (including Case who sold shares worth $100 million) shortly after the deal closed is further proof to Munk that the combination was not well thought out and that many managers had doubts about its success from the very beginning. For readers looking for a quick review of events surrounding the AOL Time Warner merger, Munk's book fits the bill, but for those who are already well versed on the subject, Munk (a contributing editor at Vanity Fair) adds little new information.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

As a senior writer at Fortune magazine, Munk began research for an article on Jerry Levin and the AOL Time Warner deal in the fall of 2000. Although that particular article was shelved, her work led to two pieces in Vanity Fair and a full-blown research project that culminated in this solidly researched, steadily paced book. Time magazine, first published in 1923 by Henry Luce, was the first in a series of wildly successful publications (including Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated) that set the tone for American public opinion and created a high-minded atmosphere that pervaded the company for years. In 1972, with television overshadowing print media, Jerry Levin revitalized the company by merging with Warner Cable in a stroke of genius that introduced satellite TV and the cable premium channel HBO. In 2000, the unprecedented merger with AOL was supposed to revive the company once again--and was a disaster of massive proportions for everyone but Steve Case and the former employees of AOL. The fallout included a loss of $220 billion in shareholder value and more than 30 lawsuits against the company and its executives. Although the merger has been covered extensively, this appears to be the most comprehensive and impartial account to date. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060540354
• ISBN-13: 978-0060540357
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,722 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Novel business - Business novel, January 8, 2004

By	B.Sudhakar Shenoy (India) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fools Rush In : Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner (Hardcover)

This was the biggest of them all. In the madness for tech stocks where millions rushed in to make a fast buck, as is the case with all such crazy manias starting with the legendary tulips , billions of dollars were generated out of thin air, virtually, and in the most recent decade , perhaps digitally. Suddenly, reality strikes, gravity starts acting and the rest is history. Sadly, history repeats itself.

This book is the story of AOL using virtual money to buy real assets. If the real story is interesting, Nina Munk has made it exciting. Grass on the other side is greener, the old saying goes. AOL wanted something real to latch on in its digital world while Time Warner was craving for digitization. A merger, would be a perfect marriage, as it appeared to the CEOs of the two companies. Three years since then, over $ 200 billion of stock valuations have evaporated back into where they belong - cyberspace. It is said that greed, optimism and herd mentality are the three drivers of capitalism . Need a better example ?

A repetition of these obvious facts is not what makes this book a good read. Nina Munk has diligently tracked the business histories of the companies involved, listed the key players and their biographies and then integrated this background into the main story of the merger and its problems.

Easy to read, and light on technical aspects. At the end, I personally feel that Time Warner in its new form has the capacity to come back. After all it is this true spirit of free enterprise that keeps America going. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can You Tell a Book by Its Cover?, February 22, 2005

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Fools Rush In : Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner (Hardcover)

Having read Stealing Time by Alec Klein, I was sure that I didn't want to read another book about the AOL-Time Warner fiasco. But then I happened to see the cover of this book at the library and couldn't resist its delightful cover. And I'm glad that the cover drew me in.

Ms. Munk has written a delightful story of the world's worst large merger that features lots of texture about the key players (especially Gerry Levin) and is written in a simple, effective style. Her book has more balance than the Klein book which emphasizes the sales and accounting legerdemain at AOL.

One of the book's most engaging qualities is that it is filled with powerful and interesting quotes from the participants and the observers.

I have had the opportunity to observe Time Warner in the past as a consultant, and I was struck that Ms. Munk did well in capturing the management style of the company and its reclusive CEO, Mr. Levin.

I would have rated the book higher except that this report still leaves the central mystery of AOL-Time Warner unexplained . . . why didn't anyone at Time Warner or its advisors figure out that AOL's profit success was based on a three-card Monte game before the deal was announced? Either people were bought off or they were monumentally stupid. Getting to the bottom of that mystery will have to await yet another book on this subject, I'm afraid. Ms. Munk puts it down to Mr. Levin's "big-picture, don't-bother-me-with-the-details" mentality.

If you want smooth, easy reading that gets most of the facts right, this book is a good choice. I particularly commend this book to students who are learning about how to make (and more importantly, not to make) acquisitions. If you mainly want to know about the AOL shenanigans, I suggest Stealing Time instead.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Eye opener for small investors, December 7, 2004

By	Tom Verghese "Tom Verghese" (Emmaus, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fools Rush In : Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner (Hardcover)

Munk's book reads like a fast paced novel and is easy enough to understand. It has not received the publicity of books like 'Good to Great' although in many ways it provides fundamental information on how big business is really conducted- for the benefit of pushy and powerful owners, managers and special interests.

Read this book to get real insight into how compliant board members and clueless senior management can wreck your 401K account. If an insider like Ted Turner could lose $ 8 billion in a three year period, where does it leave Joe Blow who plans to retire on his stock market investments?

Munk's book surprised even a cynic like myself- how could 2 persons deceive and mislead so many professionals and investors and evaporate $ 200 billion in less than 3 years? If this story does not provoke actionable investigations into the effectivness of oversight and toothlessnes of the legal system (to protect investors), I am not sure what will. In this regard, it is a very valuable read.