Wanted at AOL: Another Bob Pittman
The veteran exec's replacement will need to boost subscriptions, stave off rivals, and dampen internal friction. Who would want such a job?
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By David Shook
As Robert W. Pittman cleans out his office in New York and says goodbye -- and maybe good riddance -- to the AOL Time Warner (AOL ) combo he helped forge, the spurned chief operating officer will take with him a reputation as one of the better operational maestros ever to grace the media business. More important, however, will be what he leaves behind: a big question mark over the future of the world's largest consumer Internet company.