The world's biggest media and entertainment group is to be known as Time Warner, dropping AOL from the company name, the board of directors said last night.
The change reflects a reassertion of the old media dominance after the 2000 merger engineered by Internet giant America Online.
The company expects to complete the name change process - including adoption of the former TWX symbol on the New York Stock Exchange instead of AOL - in the next few weeks.
'We believe that our new name better reflects the portfolio of our valuable businesses and ends any confusion between our corporate name and the America Online brand name for our investors, partners and the public,' chairman and chief executive Dick Parsons said.
AOL used its share price at the height of the Internet boom to acquire Time Warner, which had been a much bigger company. In the past year, most of the key leadership positions have been taken over by former Time Warner executives.
