In one way, yes. AOL Time Warner is alone in having assembled such an assortment of media assets, New and Old, on such a vast scale. Adopting the jargon of Internet investors, Levin calls it ''a big monetization machine,'' which he promises eventually will turn out the sort of financial returns that in a simpler era built such baronies as William Randolph Hearst's San Simeon.
Any company exists to make cash dollars on the cash that the owners invest.
Good businesses return goodly amounts of cash, even after spending on capital projects and whatever else is needed to keep operations in trim. It's fungible,'' he says, and to get it, ''I don't care whether I invest in GE vs. AOL Time Warner vs. International Paper.'' As it happened, Holland was CNBC's guest host the morning of Jan. 31, when Levin appeared. AOL Time Warner finds itself among. So the company's truest bottom line actually plunged in 2000, as it spent heavily to hook up digital cable and high-speed modem subscribers. That may pay off handsomely one day.