Microsoft planted the seeds of Thursday's surprise antitrust settlement following a sweeping management shakeup at AOL Time Warner that culminated with America Online founder Steve Case announcing his resignation as chairman in January.
With Case on his way out, Microsoft founder Bill Gates made the first move to settle the case, phoning AOL Time Warner's then-chairman elect Dick Parsons about two months ago to discuss a possible resolution. In announcing the $750 million settlement, Gates hinted that the change in the AOL guard may have helped the talks along.
"We have had good relationships with a number of the groups at AOL Time Warner, including Warner Music and the cable people, and this allows us now to take advantage of all the discussions we've had there," he said during a conference call with reporters. America Online was notably absent from Gates’ list of friendly groups.
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