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.

Time Warner's Dick Parsons expected to join today's CEO exodus originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Parsons leaving? Time Warner (TWX) shares launching on possible regime change originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

At a talk on September 20th at New York's 92nd Street Y, Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) CEO Bruce Wasserstein took a swipe at Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), BloggingStocks' parent, for its moribund stock price. At the same time, Wasserstein patted himself on the back for taking all his chips off the table when the stock levitated above $18 following the publication of a Lazard report on Time Warner.

Lazard, which was hired by corporate raider Carl Icahn in February 2006, authored a 343 page report that argued for a breakup of Time Warner and a big stock buyback. Beyond its $5 million fee, Lazard's reward from Icahn was a bonus based on how far above $18 Time Warner stock went. Lazard's report estimated that Time Warner's breakup value ranged between $23.30 and $26.57. Following the report, Time Warner stock rose -- peaking at $22.73 on January 12, 2007 -- before declining to its current $18.99 -- about 50 cents a share above its price in February 2006.

While he claimed to like Time Warner management -- he called CEO Dick Parsons "a lovely, well-liked guy" and president Jeff Bewkes, "a highly regarded management kind of guy" -- Wasserstein blamed Time Warner's moribund stock price on their decision not to follow the recommendations in his report. Wasserstein thought Time Warner took one of his ideas -- a $20 billion stock buyback (Time Warner bought back $12 billion) -- but ignored his other suggestions -- to do more spin-offs and to run AOL more effectively.

Continue reading 92nd Street Y Talk: Lazard's (LAZ) Wasserstein cashes in, disses Time Warner (TWX)

92nd Street Y Talk: Lazard's (LAZ) Wasserstein cashes in, disses Time Warner (TWX) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• On January 1, 2008 Jeffrey L. Bewkes may be the new CEO of Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX), reported the Wall Street Journal. The current president and COO, is expected to take over from Richard Parsons.
• Paetec Holding Corp (NASDAQ: PAET) has paid $492M for McleodUSA, creating a tough rival to AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) for business telephone sales, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is focusing its business on consumer electronics, and may sell its advanced chip production facility, with possible buyers including Toshiba Corporation (OTC: TOSBF) and IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM), reported the Wall Street Journal.

• The New York Times reported that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating five large energy companies, AES Corporation (NYSE: AES), Dominion (NYSE: D), Dynegy Inc (NYSE: DYN), Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) and Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL), in order to determine whether their plans to build coal-fired power plants pose undisclosed financial risks that their investors should know about.
  

• According to sources, BuddyTV, a TV community site, is being acquired by Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) reported PaidContent.org.
• TheInquirer.net reported, citing sources, that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) will launch a "famous new platform" this Tuesday.

Newspaper wrap-up: Energy companies under investigation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading LIVE BLOGGING: Time Warner earnings conference call

LIVE BLOGGING: Time Warner earnings conference call originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When I look at Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and I think back to the merger with AOL I cannot help but think about all the value that evaporated rather quickly. Since that time billions of dollars in write-downs and write-offs have occurred, AOL was dropped from the name, and Time Warner has emerged slowly but surely from the kinds of challenges that business schools will be doing case studies on for many years to come.

I was a shareholder of AOL and stayed with it, so I am a TWX shareholder now. I anticipated the rise in the stock over the last year and made it one of my seven picks for 2007, optimistically believing it was set for more of the same growth. So far it has been dead money in 2007, not moving much in either direction. Carl Icahn made a big move on the stock last year and has since left with a tidy profit. He stirred things up a little but in the end did not have the backing to accomplish the changes he envisioned. Dick Parsons, CEO, made just enough changes to speed up the Time Warner train but not enough to alter its course.

Continue reading Time Warner is not integrated yet

Time Warner is not integrated yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Parsons also hints at the fate of AOL and Cable originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner's Parsons: 'We're not leaving publishing' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Parsons' options pay day originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 May 2007 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) had no choice but to ask HBO head Chris Albrecht to resign following his arrest over the weekend for domestic violence.

If the world's largest media company had done nothing to Albrecht, it would have sent the message that what he was accused of doing wasn't a big deal when clearly it was quite serious. This isn't like the celebrities who get busted for drunk driving. They could have theoretically hurt someone. He actually is accused of hurting his girlfriend.

To be sure, Albrecht is a gifted executive who helped bring classic shows such as "The Sopranos," "Sex in the City" and "Deadwood" to the pay TV channel. HBO will not be the same without him, particularly as it looks for its next hit after the end of "The Sopranos."

Albrecht ran a business that was very important for Time Warner's bottom line. He is close to both Chief Executive Richard Parsons and President Jeffrey Bewkes.

But media reports indicate that he's got a volatile temper.

"His resignation comes on the same day that the Los Angeles Times reported that in 1991, HBO paid a settlement of at least $400,000 to a subordinate of Mr. Albrecht's, who contended that he tried to choke her during a confrontation in her office," according to the New York Times, which also confirmed the report. The woman involved in the incident had directly reported to Albrecht.

Let's hope that Albrecht gets his life straightened out and that his girlfriend gets the support she needs.

Time Warner had no choice but to oust Albrecht originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 May 2007 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Highlights from today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required):
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) saves itself hundreds of millions in taxes through a complex structure that allows it to pay rent to itself.
• Altria Group (NYSE: MO) is expected to decide later this year on its next spinoff, splitting its U.S. business from its International business.
• Nissan Motor Co ADR's (NASDAQ: NSANY) new models may help it catch up to rival automakers, writes the "Heard in Asia" column.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Dick Parsons said that spinning off Time Warner Cable is a top priority for Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) this year.

• According to the Associated Press, BP plc (NYSE: BP) will sell its U.K. refinery to Petroplus for $1.4B.
• The New York Post reported that Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY) is contemplating breaking up the company, including a possible IPO for its Barney's chain.
• The Business wrote that ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) has begun talks to sell a part or all of its French oil business, valued at about $2.6B.

Newspaper wrap-up 2-1-07: MO, TWX, JNY all discuss spinoffs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Maybe Time Warner is keeping most UK print operations after all originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) has finalized its plan to sell AOL UK, the last of the three AOL Europe assets that the company has been shedding. The price tag: 370 million British Pounds, or about $687-688 million US on currency conversions. The buyer: Carphone Warehouse, which despite the unlikely name, is a player in the UK residential telecom market.

AOL will continue to provide co-branded audience services and will manage the online ad sales for the combined customer base in a revenue sharing plan. AOL will also provide the co-branded portals and content. This will cover all of AOL's approximately 2.1 million access accounts, which is about 1.5 million broadband and 600,000 dial-up accounts.

GBP 250 million will be paid on completion and the balance paid in three installments over the following 18 months through an extension of existing Carphone Warehouse bank facilities. The transaction is due to complete by 31 December 2006 and is subject to EU competition authority clearance, although this is expected to go through and there are no known major hurdles to any such deal approval.

Charles Dunstone, CEO of Carphone Warehouse, said: "The acquisition of AOL's UK Internet access business is transformational for our broadband business. This deal gives us significant scale to complement the rapid organic growth of our free broadband proposition."

Continue reading Time Warner sells AOL UK to Carphone Warehouse for about $488 million

Time Warner sells AOL UK to Carphone Warehouse for about $488 million originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

1 month chart, courtesy of AOL.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) had a good week, all things considered. The average volume was up quite a bit, although not on Friday. TWX closed up 2.8%, or $0.50 on the week, at $18.23.

Sept. 29: $18.23; +$0.03; 20,964,700
Sept. 28: $18.20; -$0.39; 49,173,500
Sept. 27: $18.59; -$0.01; 59,779,100
Sept. 26: $18.60; +$0.47; 65,881,700
Sept. 25: $18.13; +$0.40; 56,246,200
Sept. 22: $17.73: +$0.24; 21,309,900

We even had some large stock options volume on Monday and Tuesday.

TWX was upgraded by two firms on Monday morning. Morgan Stanley raised the stock rating from Equal Weight to Overweight and Sanford Bernstein raised its Market Perform to an Outperform rating. On the same night Jim Cramer helped nudge the stock up more by saying he thought it was a straight shot to $26.

Continue reading Time Warner (TWX) jumped 2.8% this week.

Time Warner (TWX) jumped 2.8% this week. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 30 Sep 2006 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dick Parsons discusses business on CNBC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dick Parsons for New York City mayor? A few weeks ago, I picked out an interesting tidbit in a story on why Parsons should be fired: Gramercy Capital Management's Joan Lappin dribbled the tantalizing rumor that the Time Warner CEO was considering a run for mayor when Michael Bloomberg's term is up in 2009.

Today's New York Magazine says "it's all but official." Parsons will run, with some insiders even saying he'll hand over the CEO position to Bewkes (Lappin said this, too) before his current contract ends in 2008. Naturally Parsons has said he'll fulfill his contract, but not opined on the mayoral run.

Frank Barnako of MarketWatch says this must be why Carl Icahn is buying up shares of Time Warner, while DealBreaker.com says Parsons entrance into the race "is not entirely unwelcome" and hints that the I-banking elite might vote for him. Would you?

Dick Parsons for NY mayor -- would you vote for him? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Aug 2006 06:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Every time we write a critical post about Time Warner or Microsoft, or expose a negative fact, rumor or analysis, the refrain renews: fire the CEO! Dick Parsons, that lucky guy, gets the brunt of our readers' anger. He's screwing up Time Warner, you've told us time and time again, he should go. So say you of Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, he of the explosive personality, sweaty armpits, and billions in inexplicable operating expenses. Sometimes it's Jeff Immelt of GE, or even well-loved figures like Meg Whitman of eBay.

But usually, it's Dick. Today is no different. With 2nd quarter earnings coming out next Wednesday, and everyone wondering about the company's plans with its AOL unit, Joan Lappin from Gramercy Capital Management demands in the pages of Fortune, "Save Time Warner, Fire Parsons."

It's nothing new, but it's worth evaluating her reasons for the radical battle cry. She argues that Parsons is all about politics (in fact, he's rumored to be angling for a 2009 run for New York City mayor), a skill that helped him avoid perishing in the "shark tank" that has been Time Warner's boardroom for the past decade and earned him credit as being a "Teflon Don," but has failed miserably to maintain Time Warner's legacy as a creative, entrepreneurial culture where good managers were rewarded "generous financial incentives for producing solid earnings growth." Fire Parsons, she says, and maybe that creative culture can be revived.

I honor her passion, and agree that the creative, entrepreneurial company always wins over the political shark tank. But who, Joan, is positioned to take the helm from him? That question must be answered before anyone brings out a block and starts chopping.

Should Dick Parsons be fired? (or Steve Ballmer or Jeff Immelt or ...) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When Jack Welch arrived at General Electric (GE) he examined what was working and what was not; what was profitable and what was not; and where the future would prosper. He established priorities based on his findings and took action! 

Transistor radios had to go! Jet engines and finance gad to grow!

I think Dick Parsons started on that path and then allowed inertia to set in, becoming more passive as he consolidated his power base. Now he seems overly methodical plodding. When Carl Icahn came along and tried to prod him into becoming more like Welch, he resisted and then took some steps to hold off the tides of change.

Hey Dick! Take a look at your price-to-book (1.25) and then take action!  (That link goes to my first "Hey Time Warner" post from yesterday).

You can read more about me and my investment philosophy here. Also for for value check out my my post on dividends! or another equally important  Magic words: return on invested capital. Which stocks perform best?

HEY Time Warner 2: Parsons should become Welch! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Jun 2006 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What do TWX and Eminem have in common? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 May 2006 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.