AOL reboots board

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Oct 27, 2009 (The Washington Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- TWX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- AOL, the Sterling, Va., Internet company being spun off by Time Warner Inc., named a board that includes Michael Powell, the former Federal Communications Commission chairman, and venture capitalist Bill Hambrecht.

When the separation from New York-based Time Warner is complete, the eight new directors will make up a board led by AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong, 38, who will serve as chairman, the company said Monday.

The designated directors are Richard Dalzell, a former chief information officer at Amazon.com Inc.; Karen Dykstra, a partner at Plainfield Asset Management LLC; Mr. Hambrecht, founder and chairman of WR Hambrecht & Co.; Patricia Mitchell, president of the Paley Center for Media; Mr. Powell, who led the FCC from 2001 to 2005; Fredric Reynolds, a former CBS Corp. executive; James Stengel, president of a consulting firm; and Jim Wiatt, chief executive of the Williams Morris Agency from 1999 to this year.

"Establishing your independence, putting in a board that has a history with a variety of business, regulatory and financial pressures, I think can help this company begin to build or rebuild its own operating framework," said Jeffrey Logsdon, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets in Los Angeles, who rates Time Warner shares as "outperform."

Time Warner, owner of CNN and the Warner Bros. movie studio, said in May that it planned to spin off AOL as a publicly traded company by the end of the year. The separation will undo a 2001 merger that led to record losses the following year.

"Expectations are awfully low. The opportunity could be meaningful," Mr. Logsdon said. "It's not a startup but a start over."

Mr. Powell, 46, ran the FCC for four years under President George W. Bush and since 2005 has been a senior adviser to Providence Equity Partners, a private-equity firm specializing in media, entertainment, communications and information.

Financial expertise comes from Mr. Hambrecht, 74, and Ms. Dykstra, 50. Mr. Hambrecht's firm specializes in Internet and auction processes and provides underwriting and advisory services for technology and startup companies. Ms. Dykstra's Plainfield Asset Management manages investment capital for institutions and high-net-worth individuals.

Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Stengel and Ms. Mitchell bring media and advertising knowledge to the boardroom. Mr. Reynolds, 59, retired as chief financial officer of CBS earlier this year after four years and had been with the media company since 1994. Mr. Stengel, 54, was global marketing officer of Procter & Gamble Co. from 2001 to 2008. Ms. Mitchell, 66, heads the Paley Center, a nonprofit devoted to the cultural and social importance of TV, radio and emerging media platforms.

Mr. Dalzell, 52, has technology expertise from working at Amazon.com until 2007, and Mr. Wiatt, 63, ran talent-management company William Morris for 10 years.

"It's an awfully competitive world against people who have gone on and built more substantial franchises, the Googles of the world, the Yahoos, the Facebooks, the MySpaces," Mr. Logsdon said.

Time Warner fell 5 cents to $30.73 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 38 percent this year.

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