Gerald M. Levin
Gerald Levin | |
---|---|
Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , U.S. | May 6, 1939
Died | March 13, 2024 | (aged 84)
Nationality | American |
Spouses |
|
Children | 5 |
Gerald M. Levin (May 6, 1939 – March 13, 2024) was an American media businessman. Levin was involved in brokering the merger between
Early life and education
Levin was born in
Career and later life
Levin spent most of his career with
Whereas Levin had once been "perhaps the most powerful media executive in the world",[8] he largely disappeared from public view after the collapse of AOL Time Warner. In 2007, he was reported by New York (magazine)[8] to be "presiding director of Moonview Sanctuary, a “holistic healing institute” with a full-time staff of fewer than twenty people" founded by his new wife, Laurie Ann Perlman, a clinical psychologist. In 2013, he was named chairman of a start-up called Elation Media, raising $150,000 of seed funding, according to Crowdfund Insider, to launch a "live and on-demand service" with programming topics that include "alternative medicine, world peace, visionary art, personal growth and the environment."[9] As of July 2022, Elation TV does not appear to have launched.
Personal life
Levin was married three times and fathered five children.[10] His first wife was Carol Needleman, whom he met at summer camp in the 1960s; they divorced in 1970.[2] In 1970, he married Barbara J. Riley;[2] they divorced in 2003.[11] His third wife was Laurie Ann Perlman,[12] a Hollywood agent turned psychologist; they divorced in 2020.[13][14]
Murder of Jonathan Levin
One of his children, Jonathan Levin, a 31-year-old high school English teacher at Taft High School in the Bronx, was murdered on May 31, 1997, during a robbery by one of his former students.[15][16] The student, Corey Arthur, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to the maximum allowed term of 25 years to life in prison in November 1998, with the judge concluding that Arthur had taken sadistic pleasure in the crime and shown no remorse. An alleged accomplice, Montoun Hart, was acquitted on the same charges in February 1999. While Hart had written a confession, jurors were not able to find out how it was obtained and felt it was unreliable.[17]
The murder occurred after Jonathan had mentioned in the classroom that his father was Time Warner head Gerald Levin. Prosecutors said Arthur and Hart, assuming that Jonathan was wealthy, stole Jonathan's bank card and tortured him to obtain the account's PIN, obtaining about $800 from the account.[18]
Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications in The Bronx, New York City, is named after the murdered teacher.
Death
Levin died at a hospital on March 13, 2024, having been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease prior to his death. He was 84.[19]
Further reading
- Munk, Nina, Fools Rush In: ISBN 978-0060540340
- Klein, Alec, Stealing Time: ISBN 0-7432-5984-X
References
- ^ ISBN 0060540346.
- ^ a b c d Reference for Business: "Gerald Levin - Retired chairman and chief executive officer, AOL Time Warner" retrieved March 29, 2015
- ISBN 9780671692278. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
Russian-Romanian.
- ^ David Plotz (January 14, 2000). "Time Warner's Gerald Levin". Slate.
- ^ Cleveland Jewish News: "The 30-plus most influential Jews in America" December 27, 2001
- ^ CNBC.com
- ^ Arango, Tim (11 January 2010). "How The AOL-Time Warner Merger Went So Wrong". The New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ a b Stevenson, Seth (6 July 2007). "The Believer". The New York Mag. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
- ^ Crownfund Insider: "Elation Media Reveals Kansas’ Paul Mai Backing; Announces Series A Funding Round" by Samantha Hurst June 16, 2015
- ^ "Gerald Levin". Heights - Jewish Business Ethics. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ New York Times: "Private Sector; Which Kind of Merger Is Harder: The Corporate or the Marital?" by Geraldine Fabrikant January 12, 2003
- ISBN 9780757314407.
- ^ Variety: "Levin heads for divorce" by Jill Goldsmith January 12, 2003
- ^ Alexandra Wolfe and Anna Jane Grossman (June 2, 2003). "Hot Flash! Trophy Wife Models Are Passé: Rudy to Jack Welch, Remarrying Geezers Get Middle-Aged Babes With Power Dowries". The Observer.
- ^ David Rohde (December 11, 1998). "Jurors Convict Youth in Killing Of His Teacher". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths Levin, Jonathan". The New York Times. June 4, 1997. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
- ^ Laura Italiano (February 12, 1999). "Levin-Slay suspect's booze & pot spree sets him free". New York Post.
- History Channel. May 30, 1997.
- ^ Kornelis, Chris. "Gerald M. Levin, Time Warner Chief in a Merger Debacle, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
External links
- Gerald Levin's page at The Museum of Broadcast Communications' website
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Forbes Magazine article about Levin's resignation from AOL Time Warner
- October 20, 1998 CNN.com news article discussing opening statements at the trial of Jonathan Levin's then suspected murderer
- Moonview Sanctuary: Gerald Levin's holistic treatment center based in Santa Monica, California