September 19, 2002

America On Line (AOL) co-founder Steve Case is still in the chairman's seat after the conclusion of AOL Time Warner's board meeting on Thursday despite widespread speculation he would be challenged by investors and board members, including Vice Chairman Ted Turner.

The board did not take a vote regarding Case's chairmanship and discussions about his role were also not part of the agenda, acording to a Reuters article published today.

Several industry sources have said Case would have enough support to stay on the board for but added that the America Online co-founder and last remaining key architect of the $106.2 billion takeover of Time Warner would likely leave soon.

"There is no support within the company and not even at AOL (for Case), but there is also no compelling reason to get rid of him right now," said an unnamed source quoted by Reuters. "There are a lot of people counseling Steve to move on but he would prefer to wait until everything calms down. Even if he quits voluntarily right now, it looks like he was pushed out."

Other industry insiders said he probably would not want to exit while the company's America Online unit is still under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department about its accounting practices.

Investors such as Turner, the company's largest investor, have lost billions of dollars as AOL's stock has fallen 70 percent since the merger was completed in January.

Turner and other board members with Time Warner roots have led the charge for Case's departure.

The last board meeting culminated in the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Robert Pittman -- another architect of the AOL Time Warner merger -- only months after he was sent to revive America Online.

Speculation about Case's departure has overtaken news about developments of the federal probes into America Online but investors hope to get a clearer idea later this fall. The company had said it hoped to have its own internal review into the deals completed by the end of the third quarter.