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Time Warner Time Warner has the versatility of a great Dr. Seuss character, entertaining (in a box, to a beat, through a wire, on a page) the world through a broad variety of media. Formed by the 1989 merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications, Time Warner is the largest and most prominent entertainment conglomerate in the world. Its holdings include a movie studio, music labels, cable television networks and systems, and the world's largest publishing firm. Its merger with America Online in January 2000 ushered in a new era for a quintessentially old media company whose effort at creating an online portal for its content, pathfinder.com, was a well-publicized flop. The new company, to be called AOL Time Warner, unifies two media leaders in a $156 billion stock-for-stock deal. That's entertainment Time Warner's entertainment division includes Warner Brothers studios, producer and distributer of movies and television shows; music subsidiaries; and 161 Warner Brothers retail stores. The publishing sector includes influential Time Inc., publisher of 28 magazines; several publishing houses; and the world's largest book club, the Book-of-the-Month Club. In keeping with its AOL-inspired new-school image, in May 2000 the company also spun off a new, internet-only publishing division. The online venture, called iPublish.com at Time Warner Books, will publish hundreds of original works, including full-length books, essays and short stories, in the 12 months following its launch early next year.The cable networks sector includes Home Box Office, the world's first and most successful premium cable television service, the Time Warner Cable television service, and the channels started by Ted Turner - CNN, TNT, and TBS - that Time Warner acquired when it bought out Turner Communications in 1996. The company's cable systems division boasts 13 million subscribers to a massive and increasingly important cable infrastructure. Even before its merger with AOL, Time Warner was increasingly trying (mostly in vain) to establish a viable online presence. Time Warner Trade Publishing (parent company of Little, Brown, and Company) and www.talkcity.com partnered online for an author chat room series, slotted for Thursday nights, and Columbia House music has been expanding its function in its own high-speed cable online business, Road Runner. In June 1999, former CFO and executive vice president Richard Bressler was named chairman and CEO of Time Warner Digital Media to bring focus to the diverse digital interests of Time Warner in digital cable, digital music, and DVD. With the merger, however, Time Warner gets an instant outlet for its old media content products, including HBO, Time, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Time Warner will also market AOL in its bricks-and-mortar retail stores, and AOL will get to use Time Warner's valuable cable television lines to provide high-speed Internet access to subscribers. The deal, which is expected to close in 2001, will find current AOL chief executive Steve Case as chairman of the board, with Time Warner chairman and CEO Gerald Levin taking on the role of CEO of the new company. One step forward, billions back When Time Inc. and Warner joined in 1989, it was not an smooth merger. Trying to fight off a hostile takeover bid by Paramount, Time Warner was saddled with $14 billion in debt. Since this time, the company has been trying move forward with a huge weight on its back. Subsequently, no matter how well the individual units of Time Warner perform - especially its prized publishing unit - the media conglomerate is bogged down by underlying financial issues. This weight of debt has kept Time Warner from as yet entering the new age of digital cable services. Plans for the first commercial launch are set for the fall of 1999. I want my cable TV However, the company is seeing a light at the end of debt's tunnel, thanks in large part to the stellar performance of its cable television business, and the potential of its cable system to provide Internet and other telecommunications services. While TNT, the Cartoon Network, CNN, and other cable channels have brought steady advertising cash flow, Wall Street analysts are more focused on the potential of the cables that deliver those stations. In 1997, Time Warner and US West Media Group (now called MediaOne Group) embarked on joint venture to create the nation's largest cable online business, called Road Runner. In February 1999, Time Warner joined forces with AT&T to sell local phone service over Time Warner's cable systems. The companies aim to charge 20 percent less than the competition in this $100 billion business. As of May 1999, AT&T purchased the Media One entity that owns 25 percent of Time Warner Entertainment, and has traditionally been a cramp in Time Warner's style. Industry observers say that Time Warner executives, who had to sell out company shares to dig out of debt, want to buy back control from AT&T, with whom they have a better relationship. The exclusivity contract with Road Runner is slated to end in 2001, but AOL is now pushing to break it even sooner so that AOL Time Warner can begin to open their huge cable system to online competitors. A mere two weeks after the announcement of its acquisition by AOL, Time Warner acquired the music business of the London-based EMI Group. If the deal goes through, Warner EMI Music will sell approximately one of four records in the U.S., and will shrink the field of major music companies from five to four. The deal faces major scrutiny from EMI shareholders, who will receive a payment of 1 pound per share, even though EMI's shares at the time of the merger were worth nearly ten times that amount. In addition, the deal is expected to lead to a substantial loss of jobs, as the merged company plans to thousands of positions worldwide. Time Warner in court July 2000 was a bad month for Time Warner in court. The Georgia Court of Appeals upheld a $454 million verdict against Time Warner for mismanagement of Six Flags over Georiga. A Gwinnett County jury had found in 1998 that Time Warner, which held the controlling stake in Six Flags Over Georgia, tried to depress the park's value and withheld money and information from the partnership that owned it. The company has also filed lawsuits against two former employees who allegedly breached their strict employment contracts.
Time Warner's hiring and recruiting is primarily conducted independently through its many subsidiaries. Applicants should consult the "corporate side" of Time Warner's Pathfinder web page, located at www.pathfinder.com/corp, to view job listings and contact information for each of Time Warner's businesses. "Time Warner Corporate has significant financial planning and some human resources and corporate administration, but there are only really maybe 100 employees in it," explains one insider. "In the divisions there are tens of thousands of jobs - you have to look at it almost like a holding company." In part because of a decentralized corporate culture and structure, and in part because it is a media company that wants enthusiasm for the business, the company does not have a large on-campus recruiting program. "They used to do it," says one MBA. "Now they kind of wait for people to come to them." That contact explains his hiring process: "I just met with as many people as possible. They were very open to talking to me - it was a very collegial, informal hiring process. They certainly hire on personality a lot. Though I don't think they'd write it down on a brochure, they'll admit as much."
An awesome company It's no wonder some employees report that they are "awed" by Time Warner. As the leading information supplier in this age of information, Time Warner's influence in the world community is immense. But insiders report that the tone at the company is neither power-mad nor even money-mad. Time Warner has "an honest interest in meeting not only our financial and other responsibilities to investors, and our employees, but to the larger world in which we operate," a contact says. By the seat of your pants The atmosphere at Time Warner is "busy", "exciting" - and unstructured. "You must be an independently motivated worker," a source reports. "There is little feedback along the way, but upper management respects your ideas, your analyses, and even your 'gut feeling' and expects to use the results of your work." Says another source, "the President (of the division) expects to see junior people at the meetings. It's not like someone above the junior person takes the information and runs with it." Nevertheless, the "daunting" size and "dizzying" pace of publishing and entertainment industries often "overwhelm" recent Time Warner hires. "Upper-level managers are willing to answer any of your questions, if you can catch them!" a source says. Get ahead Being in a company that is propelled by creativity, talent is what fuels your climb up the ladder. "Opportunities to get ahead," an insider says, "are all over Time Warner, limited by ability effort, imagination, personality, and intelligence." Still, with no real set career paths at Time-Warner, it is essential to network even after you get hired. Several employees suggest that "company mentors" have proved "crucial" to their success, even though finding a more senior colleague with "time and resources to spare" can be "difficult." Autonomous cultures, good perks The corporate structure at Time Warner encourages each subsidiary to operate "autonomously" and to "develop its individual corporate culture." Throughout the company, however, Time Warner "matches or improves upon" industry pay scales and also gives employees "more extensive paid vacations than any of its rivals." Perks for employees at Time Warner's New York locations include "free access to the museums - better than other companies. Every New York employer you can get into some museums, like the MOMA [Museum of Modern Art] or the Met, but Time Warner had really strong cultural stuff. Employees also rave about the "civilized" hours afforded for Time Warner employees. Says one MBA summer hire: "I worked from 9:30 to 5, and some of my friends who were in I-banking barely slept, and this was a summer internship."
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