AOLTW Reportedly Mulls Name Change

AOL Time Warner executives are reportedly contemplating dropping AOL from the company's name in an effort to distance the Internet brand from the corporate entity.

A report in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal Tuesday cited an e-mail allegedly sent from AOL head Jon Miller to his staff saying that AOL's brand would benefit from being removed from the corporate name.

A representative for AOL in the U.K. declined to comment on the report Tuesday, but did note that the name change speculation had been circulating for some time.

Ongoing Efforts?

The e-mail cited by the Journal indicated that Miller has been spearheading a campaign to drop AOL from the name because he wants to separate the Internet brand's identity from the corporate controversies that have dogged AOLTW in recent years.

InternalMemos.com, a Web site that publishes corporate memos and internal communications, posted the alleged e-mail from Miller Monday.

"As AOL Time Warner became known as, for all intents and purposes, 'AOL,' any controversy or criticism involving the corporate entity has actually hit our consumer brand," the e-mail posted on InternalMemos.com states.

The AOL representative would not confirm or deny the authenticity of the e-mail.

Tumultuous History

The posted memo states that Miller proposed the idea of a name change to AOLTW Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Parsons because he thought it would help strengthen the AOL brand.

If true, the idea of AOL distancing itself from the Time Warner would be a new twist in the tumultuous marriage of AOL and Time Warner. Since the companies merged in 2001, AOL's slowed growth, accounting problems, and staff shakeups have grabbed headlines and contributed AOLTW's depleted stock price.

The Journal said that AOLTW's board will consider the name change at its upcoming meeting next month.