11 Worst Tech Mergers and Acquisitions Ever

1. AOL and Time Warner

Value: $164 billion

The 2000 deal between AOL and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) is considered the worst tech mergers and acquisitions ever, not only in the tech space, but across the entire business world. Back then, the internet was growing at the fast pace, as dot-com companies were still considered the best investments and the merger was considered an excellent move for both companies, as Time Warner would benefit from AOL’s online presence, and AOL would get access to Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX)’s old media content. However, the companies did not manage to align their cultures and had lots of issues. In addition, soon after the merger, the dot-com bubble burst, the economy went into recession, and companies did not spend as much money on advertising as before. Due to this, AOL took a goodwill write-off of $99 billion in 2002, and as it was losing subscribers and revenue, its market value slid to $20 billion from $226 billion. In 2009, the companies finally “divorced” substantially poorer than before the merger, and in 2015 Verizon bought AOL for $4.40 billion.

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So, due to the huge initial value of the deal and the failure that it turned out to be, the combination between AOL and Time Warner is the largest of the 11 worst tech mergers and acquisitions ever.

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