by Kara Swisher
First published 2004
The deal that created AOL Time Warner was supposed to herald a new era of digital dominance. Instead, it produced $100 billion in losses, plummeting stock prices, and corporate chaos. Kara Swisher examines how the merger of the century became history's messiest corporate disaster. She traces the collision between two radically different business cultures that believed they could unite and achieve unprecedented success during the internet boom. When reality hit and New Media dreams crumbled, executives like Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and Bob Pittman fell from their pedestals as digital prophets. Swisher investigates what went wrong and who bears responsibility for the wreckage. More importantly, she uses this corporate train wreck to explore what comes next for both traditional and digital media. The book serves as a guide for understanding the digital future, using the AOL Time Warner debacle as a lens to examine the troubled path ahead.
Genres: history, business, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corporate-disaster, digital-prophets
Period: Internet Boom
320 pages · Paperback · Crown Business