David Levy plans to announce his resignation as Turner President this morning and will leave the company by June, according to several sources. The move comes just two days after a federal appeals court rejected Justice Department arguments and allowed AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner to move forward. Levy is not the only high-ranking exec to leave the newly merged company this week. HBO Chair & CEO Richard Plepler yesterday also told staff that he was leaving. Levy’s exit comes as a surprise, as he originally had been expected to have a big role where he would report to WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey. But it was reported earlier this week that AT&T was close to giving longtime TV exec Robert Greenblatt a senior role overseeing HBO and Turner’s entertainment networks. Turner Sports President Lenny Daniels is expected to continue to oversee the company’s sports division.
Levy is something of a Turner lifer. He started with the company more than 32 years ago as an account exec. He ran international for eight years before taking over sports and ad sales for Turner. Eventually, he oversaw distribution and for the past six years has run Turner’s entertainment networks, as well. Levy has played a big role in sports, earning a reputation as a forward-thinking and risk-taking exec -- from buying Bleacher Report and launching ELeague to offering “The Match” via streaming PPV and signing a long-term deal that shares NCAA Tournament rights with CBS through '32.
