Jonathan Miller, ex-AOL boss, lands in private equity

An interesting release came out at the end of last week when everyone was preparing for the three-day weekend. Jonathan Miller, former Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) America Online unit, has joined General Atlantic, LLC as an adviser to the firm's Media & Consumer sector. General Atlantic didn't just add on Miller. Ross Levinsohn, former President of Fox Interactive Media (FIM) at News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), has also become an adviser.

Before jumping to any conclusions, please be advised that the term "adviser" is far different than "director" or "partner." It is very possible that there will be more to this, but that's all we know for now. Usually this tends to revolve around "identifying or reviewing potential acquisitions" or "finding deals on an unofficial basis" rather than working full-time inside the companies.

General Atlantic has made private equity investments of $1.3 billion in more than 20 companies since 1995. This may be to bring on more partnerships for General Atlantic's existing media properties, and you could argue that it is far more. It looks like we won't know until further announcements hit.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St., LLC; he produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.