Ted Turner closed his 34th and final shareholders meeting of
Turner Broadcasting System on Thursday afternoon, as TBS "became
an Atlanta-based media power no more," according to Charles
Haddad of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. Shareholders of both
companies "overwhelmingly" approved the merger yesterday between
Time Warner and TBS. TBS, Inc. is now a wholly owned subsidiary
of Time Warner, which is now the largest media company in the
world. Turner is the company Vice Chair and largest shareholder
with 11% (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/11). Turner, wearing a Braves
tie, gave a champagne toast in New York, where he said, "We're
looking forward to the future and we're very proud of our past."
He then left via private plane to Atlanta to watch the Cardinals-
Braves (Sanger & Moses, NEWSDAY, 10/11). Time Warner shares
gained $.25 in trading on the NYSE to close at $41.375 (Thomas
Mulligan, L.A. TIMES, 10/11). Turner and Time Warner Chair
Gerald Levin "still must solve lots of problems," according to
David Lieberman of USA TODAY. They may have to cut more than
1,000 jobs and sell assets to reduce Time Warner's $17B debt.
They must still face a pending suit by News Corp.'s Rupert
Murdoch, who filed suit to break up the merger after Time Warner
cable systems refused to carry the Fox News Channel (USA TODAY,
10/11).