Earlier today, CNBC's David Faber announced that he has word that Dick Parsons would be stepping down as Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX) CEO effective December 31, 2007. Jeff Bewkes is the likely heir apparent, according to Faber, although it seems Parsons may remain as Chairman.
This change at the top may portend unit sales, roll-ups, spin-offs, and even may lead a change in the ownership of Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE:TWC).
Management change is becoming almost the norm today. Citigroup's (NYSE:C) Chuck Prince is out, finally, although having Bob Rubin involved for anything more than an interim basis will be a mistake.
Larry Fink has been named as a potential replacement-head for Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) and some even have noted that he could be offered top billing at Citigroup (NYSE:C).
You could almost view the break-up announcement of IAC/Interactive (NASDAQ:IACI) as a CEO exit because the five individual units already have the heads named and, at least as of now, Barry Diller is going to stay with the IAC/Interactive parent. He said he'd maintain some role in one or two of the spin-offs but not all of them.
Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-05-2007 @ 3:34PM
JDaggitt said...
Good riddance to Mr. Parsons. He did little for the shareholders of TWX and so it is no surprise to see Wall Street react positively to the news that he's leaving. He brought neither vision nor passion to the business. (In fact, when a rumor circulated last month that Parson's was leaving, the stock also moved up nicely.)
However, I think all TWX shareholders should hold their breath when the company releases its numbers this week for two reasons:
1) TWX never fails to disappoint with its quarterly numbers. Check back on how the stock has preformed when the quarterly are released and you'll see that it usually moves down sharply as soon as the numbers are released.
2) Parsons’ departure being leaked ahead of the quarterly numbers, leads me to believe that the report will again disappoint, and that there would be a lot more people clamoring for Parsons’ to leave come Wednesday morning. So, I believe he is for once he's being proactive and getting out some positive news…even if it is his own departure.