TWX: Ted Leonsis to Retire From Active Management of AOL in 2007

Ted Leonsis, the Vice Chairman of AOL and President of its fast-growing Audience business, will retire from an active management role on January 1, 2007, the company and Mr. Leonsis announced today. Leonsis will retain all of his management responsibilities for the remainder of 2006 and help the company complete its transition to a Web services business. Following his retirement from active management, he will remain Vice Chairman of the company, reporting to AOL Chairman and CEO Jonathan F. Miller.

As Vice Chairman, Leonsis will continue to serve as a strategist and visionary for AOL, focusing on the transformation of AOL into a company that is driving some of the most exciting Web 2.0 technologies. And he will continue to serve as a mentor to dozens of successful AOL executives. At the same time, Leonsis will pursue his passions in sports ownership, film-making, philanthropy, and venture-capital investing.

"Ted Leonsis helped build AOL, not once, but twice," said Jon Miller. "The first time was in the 1990s, when Ted and AOL literally helped get America online. A second time began in 2002, with Ted as the driving force behind AOL's dramatic shift from a dial-up ISP to a Web services business. In the 2nd Quarter of 2006, AOL's advertising revenue grew by 40% -- and it is this business for which Ted's been most responsible."

"Ted has a remarkable biography at AOL and his imprint is felt everywhere here. He has played one of the most important roles not only in our success, but in the growth of the online medium," Miller said. "Ted will continue to play a vital role at AOL as our Vice Chairman, helping us chart our future while ensuring that we stay true to the best of what AOL has always been about -- making the complicated easy, while emphasizing safety and security and the protection of our users' families when online."

Leonsis joined AOL in 1993, when AOL acquired Redgate Communications Corp., which he founded. Redgate was considered the first new-media marketing company, and participated in launches of the Apple Macintosh, the IBM PC, as well as launching four computing magazines. Over the course of his storied career at AOL, he has done pretty much everything, proving himself as both a strategist and operating executive.

"I love AOL, and I am so proud of what we've done. I think I'm most proud of what we've accomplished in the past two years, growing our Audience business and driving it to become the future of AOL. AOL is in great hands, and it is absolutely on the right path. I look forward to working with Jon Miller and all of my friends and colleagues at AOL, but in a new and different way," Leonsis said.

"Not a week goes by without someone asking why I continue to work full-time at AOL, with significant management responsibilities. My answer has always been that I love and believe in the company, and in this business. I still do, more than ever. But I have other interests calling out to me, and I felt the time was right to pursue them - my sports teams, my film-making activities, my philanthropic interests, and new entrepreneurial efforts - even as I continue in a new role at AOL," Leonsis said.

Leonsis is the producer of the documentary feature "Nanking," which will premier in 2007, and is developing two other films for theatrical release. He is a majority owner of the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals, and the WNBA's Washington Mystics. He is also a minority shareholder in the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards, in the Verizon Center, and in the Washington, D.C. Ticketmaster franchise. With his wife Lynn, and through their Leonsis Foundation, he is active in supporting such organizations as Hoop Dreams, Best Buddies, YouthAIDS, See Forever Foundation, and Venture Philanthropy Partners. He is also on the Board of Directors of Georgetown University, and is Vice Chairman of the Potomac School Futures Campaign.