Steve Case said he's quitting AOL Time Warner Inc. because he doesn't want to
continue to be the focus of investors angry over the company's problems.
"This company doesn't need any distractions. It's got a lot of hard work to
do," Case said on CNBC Monday, explaining his decision to resign as chairman.
But he added that he is delaying his actual exit until May to ensure "a
smooth transition."
While Case's exit is symbolic of the collapse of the Internet era on Wall
Street (in case anyone needed another symbol), Wall Street analysts found it
pretty immaterial to the operations of the company.
After CEO Jerry Levin was pushed out last year, Case had already ceded power
to successor Dick Parsons, and there doesn't seem to be any major power struggle
between them.
"Didn't this happen already?" Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Inc. media analyst
Tom Wolzien asked. "This doesn't really mean a thing."
