Kevin Tsujihara has temporarily taken the reigns of Warner Bros. Entertaindom Web site. As reported [AWN 4/6/00], Entertaindom.com president and CEO Jim Moloshok, executive VP Jim Banister and third-in-command Jeff Weiner have exited their Time Warner posts. Sources said the top trio was angry about Time Warner's decision not to spawn a separate Entertaindom IPO. The final impetus leading to the leave was when the three execs were not satisfied by the stock options offered to them by Time Warner. It was reported [AWN 3/29/00] that many Entertaindom employees were angry about their illegitimate child treatment once the AOL deal was announced. On March 13, 2000, Tsujihara was promoted to lead Time Warner's infant New Media division, which oversees Entertaindom and Warner Bros. On-line. This appointment put one more person in front of Moloshok and upper Time Warner management. The three former Time Warner dot.com darlings are serving as non-exclusive consultants for Time Warner and plan to announce their new project in the next three weeks. Tsujihara said, "In light of the pending AOL merger, which brings with it a seismic shift in Time Warner's digital strategy. We certainly understand their desire to move on. We are grateful for their passion; we admire their vision; we appreciate their accomplishments and we wish them only the best for the future." With Tsujihara serving as the point man for the merging of AOL and Time Warner strategies, his promotion was viewed early on as a safety net for the inevitable jumping ship of Moloshok, Banister and Weiner.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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