Richard Parsons, 60, is a lawyer and banker from the University of Hawaii and Albani Law School. His first job was for Nelson Rockefeller, then Governor of New York, and he followed Rockefeller into the White House after he was elected vice president.

In addition, he ran a legal services firm, served as president of a savings and lending group in New York, and in 1990, Parsons joined Time Warner at the invitation of Steven Ross, the CEO of Time Warner, and rose through the ranks to become CEO of AOL in May 2000.

Some analysts pointed out that Parsons's election had a lot to do with his outstanding diplomatic skills, and that what this company with complex internal contradictions needed most was the "lubricant" of interpersonal relationships. How to make 1+1 greater than 2 instead of less than 2 depends mainly on the coordination ability of the company's leaders, and Parsons is very good at this.

It is worth pointing out that as a black African-American, it is not easy for Parsons to monopolize the power of the world's No. 1 media company, and in the eyes of the people of the United States, the explosive news that Parsons took office as CEO is no less explosive than Bush's appointment of Powell as the first black secretary of state in the history of the United States.

Like Kenneth Chernot, the chairman of the company, Parsons is one of the most prominent African-American top executives in the business world, and Parsons has a penchant for jokes and always makes people feel at ease, which makes people often underestimate his abilities at first, and when he was appointed CEO of Time Warner, he was not considered a typical media person, and BusinessWeek simply called him a "non-prominent figure". His extensive resume has honed his diplomatic skills, making him the company's go-to person for crisis resolution.

Long before the two giants married, he became a public relations expert for Time Warner boss Levin, and when Mi Online and Time Warner merged, he was sent to convince regulators that, as William, chairman of the FCM of the United States, put it, "is a guy who can talk to anyone and solve any problem." It was this quality that propelled him to the pinnacle of power at Time Warner.

From the resignation of Case to the appointment of a new chairman, it took only four days for Time Warner to take 4 days, and this style of quick decision and quick resolution has been praised by many investors and analysts, who believe that the concentration of the company's leadership can avoid internal power struggles, which marks the end of the long run-in period after the merger of the two giants. The senior management of the former Miguo Online has almost left, and the company has entered the era of Time Warner's dominance. As chairman, Parsons immediately stated that he would lead his team and unite to lead the company out of its current predicament.

Regarding the next strategic deployment, Parsons said that the company has no intention of selling the MI Online division, and will not remove MI Online from the company's name. "I believe that Mi Guo Online is one of the most famous and valued brands in the country, and it is synonymous with the Internet. Why should I throw it away?" the company plans to roll out its broadband strategy in the United States and overseas, and the network division expects advertising sales to recover this year, but it will not turn a profit until 2004.

In January 2001, 米国在线 and Time Warner merged to form "米国在线Time Warner Company". At that time, public opinion in the United States said that "it may be the most important event in the development of the Internet world so far."

The top brass of both sides have also tried their best to convey the message that the "marriage" of the world's largest portal and a traditional publishing giant will completely change the landscape of the media industry. After the merger, the new company will be 55% owned by Miguo Online and 45% controlled by Time Warner, and the chairman of the new company will be Miguo Online's boss Keith, and the CEO will be controlled by Time Warner boss Levin. Other senior management roles are split equally between Parsons Inc., which includes Warner Bros., New Line Cinemas, Warner Records and Time Warner's publishing business.

Parsons is also a member of the board of directors of Time Warner. However, since the merger, the company has been plagued by management problems, cultural conflicts, and high profit expectations, and there has been a fierce collision between traditional and new online media.

At the beginning of the merger, the management of the former Miguo online party was aggressive and regarded itself as the rightful winner. However, with the bursting of the Internet bubble, the new company's Mi Guo Online division immediately fell into a low ebb, sluggish growth, resulting in a gradual decline in the new company's stock price, and worse, the Mi Guo Online division was also involved in a scandal of corporate exaggeration, and is now under investigation by the China Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ministry of Justice.

In 2001, after the CEO of the new company, Levine, announced his early retirement, the new company appointed Parsons from Time Warner to succeed him, instead of Robert Pittman from the American online side.

To make matters worse, Pittman couldn't even get along with the COO, and was "ousted" from office in May 2002 and replaced by a senior media manager at Time Warner, while a generation of Internet tycoon Keys was the last senior manager of Mi Guo Online to leave the new company.

This really confirms the saying: "One mountain does not allow two tigers". Some investors said that Parsons held two positions, making the difficult time Warner even more unable to find a way out, while some investors believe that the level of management of the company has little to do with whether the chairman and CEO are concurrently held by one person, and the key is who holds these positions.

Judging from the stock market reaction, investors still welcomed the decision, and the stock price of Time Warner rose 6 cents to $15.30 on the day.

At this point, Parsons will monopolize the scepter of Time Warner Online, and at the same time, it also marks that the traditional Time Warner will dominate the "first kingdom" of world media after the merger.

In the view of the Board, the most important issue at the moment is to establish a clear and unified leadership, not an oversight system. Of course, the monitoring system is also quite important. In order to dispel the doubts of investors, the board of directors said in a statement on the 16th that the company will hold special board meetings in the future (only ordinary directors are allowed to participate, excluding senior management including the chief executive) to strengthen the supervision of the company's decision-making.

Time Warner's appointment ensured their absolute control of the company, Parsons also became the most powerful boss in the history of Time Warner, and he lived up to expectations and ensured the interests of Time Warner, but he was powerless to save, this is a victim of technological innovation, something that the times will inevitably abandon, no one can save it, and finally it will inevitably fall, from the once glorious Internet enterprise to become a subsidiary of Time Warner.

How frustrating this is, this is equivalent to a husband who is on an equal footing, and after the divorce, he becomes a part-time worker.

However, they just dumped Time Warner and were immediately acquired by the Davis Fund, and this Richard Perkins also met Martin under Mark's thread and continued to be the boss of Time Warner.

This time, Mark wants to take a stake in Time Warner, and he can't do without the support of this big guy.

Mark met with Richard and Barry Meyer in his apartment in Times Square, Barry was moved from Warner Bros. president to time Warner vice president, in terms of prestige and seniority is far inferior to Richard, but they are the strongest alliance on the board, and over the years, they have also become one of the shareholders of Time Warner, holding a lot of shares, although not comparable to Martin, Turner, etc., but also a well-known member of the shareholders' meeting.

The relationship between the two sides is good, the party in the small circle is staggered, lively, in addition to Richard and Barry, there are only Mark, David, Sophia, Donald four, both Richard and Barry are human spirits, the main leaders of the Wang family fund gathered, of course, there was a major event, they pretended not to know, drank and laughed, and waited for each other to provoke a topic.

David said: "Richard, don't talk in secret, we have reached an agreement with the Davis Fund, they will transfer their shares in Time Warner to us in the next three years, I need to know the attitude of the management." ”

Both Richard and Barry were surprised, they knew that something big was going to happen, but they didn't expect it to be so big, which meant that Time Warner had changed again.

Time Warner has been in turmoil since entering the new millennium, first with the failed merger of the United States Online, and then into the hands of Martin Davis, a careerist, this guy bought Time Warner, a bit inexplicable, spending tens of billions to win this big company, but not to transform and rectify the company, just like those who have money, buy a supercar, but never drive, no one knows what he means.

Perhaps Mark realized that this was a poisoned apple that Martin used to appease him and lure him, and this was a gift that Mark couldn't refuse.

Richard exclaimed, "Is it all?"

Mark said: "Yes, in three years, the Davis Fund will sell me all the shares of Time Warner, Richard, what do you think?"

Richard was visibly surprised and said, "I'm cautious about this, it's a big deal and we need time to digest it." ”

David said: "Richard, I understand your concerns, but it is imperative that Time Warner return to the Wang family fund. He showed the secret contract they had with the Davis Fund.

Richard no longer doubts this, saying: "I can't influence the opinions of management, but I personally support it. ”