Free Republic

It's no secret that Citigroup board Chairman Richard Parsons has been working for months to repair the financial giant. But, until now, even his closest associates didn't know he also was wrestling with a personal crisis - how to tell his wife and three children he has fathered a child with another woman. Parsons and model-philanthropist MacDella Cooper are the parents of a baby girl named Ella.

Bill Clinton drew a round of applause Tuesday at the Time WarnerTime Warner Center -- no small feat considering the "Conversations on the Circle" guest's audience was a bevy of Gotham's (NYC) tough-to-please media elite. One journo noted there was no such ovation for Bush political operative whiz Karl Rove, who was recently the first guest to participate in the series of one-on-one interviews held in Time Warner's Zen-like screening room. "The doctrine of equal time required us to reach out to the other side," explained TW chairman-CEO Richard Parsons. The longtime Republican said even he considers Clinton to have...

Fresh from his latest win in Maine, the favourite to challenge George Bush for the US presidency has secured the financial support of some of the most powerful media moguls in the world. As John Kerry's campaign to secure the Democrat nomination - and with it a crack at the White House - continues to gather pace, it has emerged that it is being bankrolled by key executives from News Corporation, MTV-owner Viacom and Sony. The victory in Maine, Mr Kerry's 10th out of the 12 primaries in the opening weeks of the Democrat selection campaign, confirmed his position as...

The board of AOL Time Warner named its chief executive, Richard D. Parsons, to be its chairman this afternoon, succeeding Stephen M. Case, the architect of AOL's acquisition of Time Warner, who submitted his resignation under pressure. Mr. Parsons will take over as chairman in May. He will remain chief executive as well. The move completes the surprising consolidation of Mr. Parsons's power over the company in the last two years since AOL acquired Time Warner. Named co-chief operating officer at the time, Mr. Parsons was largely pushed aside during the merger negotiations and crucial decisions afterwards. But when the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - AOL Time Warner Inc. is expected to write off several billion dollars -- on top of the record $54 billion charge it took last year -- increasing the strain on its balance sheet, analysts and investors say. The world's largest media company said in October it was probable it would take a "substantial" noncash goodwill impairment charge in the fourth quarter to reflect the reduced value of its America Online unit since its 2001 merger with Time Warner. While AOL Time Warner executives have said debt covenants would not be affected by the noncash charge, accounting...

<p>Want to read People magazine online? Soon, it might cost you.</p> <p>America Online and sister magazine publisher Time Inc. are discussing an agreement under which a substantial portion of the content on Time Inc.'s currently free Web sites could be transferred onto America Online's struggling proprietary service, company executives say.</p>

Ted Turner, hard of hearing and approaching his 64th birthday, has got his groove back. The billionaire "Mouth of the South," who spent much of last year demoralized and complaining about having been fired, is now looking much more like the corporate rabble-rouser he used to be. "A great leader has two key qualities," Turner said in a speech this month at the University of Rochester in New York. "He knows where he wants to go; he's able to persuade others to go with him." After a year of virtual corporate exile, Turner has figured out the first part and...

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- AOL Time Warner, the world's largest media and Internet company, may sell its three sports franchises to bolster its financial position, its chief executive officer said. AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose confirmed Monday that CEO Richard Parsons had told securities analysts Friday the company is searching for ways to strengthen its balance sheet, and offered up the sports teams "as an example of a non-core asset." However, Primrose stressed that "no discussions" are under way for such a sale. AOL, whose stock has fallen 63 percent in the past year, is under pressure to boost revenue and...

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of AOL Time Warner fell as much as 8.8 percent after hours Wednesday as the company reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its accounting. Shares of AOL, the world's largest media company, dropped as low as $10.40 in after-hours trading, following the second-best one-day gain ever recorded for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. AOL Time Warner also reported its second-quarter earnings after Wednesday's close, with a profit of $394 million that surpassed Wall Street's estimates. Revenue rose to $10.6 billion. During a conference call with analysts, AOL Chief Executive Richard Parsons said...