For the Wilton Brands CEO, Revlon CEO, Sunbeam/American Household CEO, Sharper Image Chairman, see Jerry W. Levin

Jerry W. Levin

Jerry W. Levin, born in 1944, is an American businessman.Levin is an experienced CEO, turnaround expert and mergers & acquisitions specialist. He has been growing the sales and profits of branded consumer products companies for the past 30 years via internal product development programs,...

Gerald M. "Jerry" Levin (born 6 May 1939) is an American mass-media businessman. CNBC named him as one of the "Worst American CEOs of All Time".

Early life and education

Levin was born in Pennsylvania to a Russian-Romanian Jewish family. He lived as a child in Overbrook Hills, a suburb of Philadelphia. He attended Haverford College

Haverford College

Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...

, where he is a member of the Board of Directors. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School

University of Pennsylvania Law School

The University of Pennsylvania Law School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Ivy League, it is among the oldest and most selective law schools in the nation. It is currently ranked 7th overall by U.S. News & World Report,...

 in 1963.

Levin has been married three times and is the father of five children.

Career and later life

Levin spent most of his career with Time Inc.

Time Inc.

Time Inc. is a subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, the company formed by the 1990 merger of the original Time Inc. and Warner Communications. It publishes 130 magazines, most notably its namesake, Time...

 (later Time Warner

Time Warner

Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

, then AOL Time Warner), starting as a programming executive for Home Box Office

Home Box Office

HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...

 (HBO) and eventually becoming CEO of the corporation. Levin is probably most famous for having brokered the merger between AOL and Time Warner in 2000, at the height of the dot-com bubble

Dot-com bubble

The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...

, a merger which seemed to many to be disadvantageous to Time Warner as the bubble collapsed in the next few years.

Murder of Jonathan Levin

One of his children, Jonathan Levin, a 31-year-old high school English teacher, was tortured and murdered on May 31, 1997 by one of his own students. The student, Corey Arthur, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in November 1998. A purported 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.

The murder occurred after Jonathan had mentioned that his father was Time-Warner head Gerald M. Levin in the classroom. The former student, Corey Arthur, assumed that Jonathan was rich. The student stole Jonathan's bank card and got the account's PIN, obtaining about $800 from the account.

Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications

Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications

Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications is a public high school located in The Bronx, New York City. It is one of six smaller specialty high schools located on the campus of the former William H. Taft High School, which was closed in 2008 and divided into separate collocated...

 in The Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, is named for the murdered teacher.

Philanthropic activities

In addition to being a businessman, Levin is a philanthropist; he is a supporter of Jewish causes and engages in other charitable and philanthropic work as well. He is a trustee and supporter of the Museum of Jewish Heritage

Museum of Jewish Heritage

The Museum of Jewish Heritage, located in lower Manhattan, is a living memorial to those who perished in the Holocaust. The Museum honors those who died by celebrating their lives – cherishing the traditions that they embraced, examining their achievements and faith, and affirming the vibrant...

, among other charitable organizations.

Further reading

• Klein, Alec, Stealing Time: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner (Simon & Schuster, 2003) ISBN 0-7432-5984-X

External links

• Gerald Levin's page at The Museum of Broadcast Communications' website
• 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