[March 20, 2003]

"'I'd rather go back and be with one of my ex-wives than go through this again,' Turner said of the merger during his keynote interview before a packed hall at the CTIA Wireless 2003 show in New Orleans Wednesday. Turner added that he is not likely to read any of the four books currently being written about the deal. 'It's a fascinating story of how to do everything wrong,' he said, noting that the deal's timing -- at the height of the Internet boom -- was terrible.

He also said that both companies already had incredibly complex businesses which were difficult to manage without layering more complexity onto the organization. 'I think part of it was that it was just too complicated,' he said. He added, 'If you ever have the chance to merge with AOL, stay away.' "

—Ted Turner,
quoted in
"Turner Prefers 'Ex-wives' to Reliving AOL Merger"