When America Online bought Time Warner in 2000, it was not only the largest corporate merger in history but also the much vaunted marriage of new and old media. Questions began, however, on the day the merger was announced. The stock price started a long decline; and the Federal Trade Commission subjected the merger to intense scrutiny. Just two years later, once-triumphant AOL was under investigation by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justic Department. One hundred billion dollars was lost in 2002, and four of the top executives resigned. This is how the deal of the century became an epic disaster.