Fees Increased Tenfold

A week into 2000, Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin and America Online CEO Steve Case jointly announced that America Online would acquire Time Warner for 164 billion US dollars at market value.

America Online and Time Warner announced that they would merge through a stock swap. The merger, worth more than 250 billion US dollars, became the largest corporate acquisition in the world to date.

Afterward, they would operate under the name America Online-Time Warner!

On the day of the announcement, America Online's stock rose by more than 15%, while Time Warner's stock climbed by more than 20%.

Both America Online and Time Warner were extremely optimistic about the merger!

Time Warner chairman and CEO Gerald Levin called it "a match made in heaven."

America Online chairman Steve Case said it would usher in the "Internet century."

Time Warner vice chairman and CNN founder Ted Turner shouted excitedly, "Today feels just like the first time I had sex with a woman more than sixty years ago!"

Los Angeles, First Interstate World Center. Aaron and Citibank representative Sandy Weil signed a stock exchange agreement.

Aaron's Tianhai Fund exchanged its 4.8% stake in America Online for Citibank's 3% stake in ExxonMobil.

America Online currently had a market capitalization of more than 170 billion US dollars, while ExxonMobil was worth more than 270 billion US dollars. At current share prices, the exchange was roughly equivalent.

But America Online's tech stock was soaring, while ExxonMobil's oil stock was steady!

"Aaron, are you worried about the Tech stock bubble too?"

Sandy Weil had originally been chairman and CEO of Travelers Group. After Travelers Group merged with Citibank, he had only just secured the position of Citibank CEO following an internal power struggle.

America Online had just merged with Time Warner and was at the height