AOL Time Warner says Turner to stay on board

AOL Time Warner Inc said on Thursday that outspoken media mogul Ted Turner will stay on the company's board even after he steps down from his position as vice chairman in May, ending months of speculation.

Turner's decision came after the media company's board meeting on Thursday afternoon, a spokeswoman said.

Turner was not available for comment.

Earlier this week, Turner -- AOL's largest individual investor -- said he might stay on the board for a while because he did not want to leave the company "in a lurch" with the war looming.

Turner, who has lost $7 billion to $8 billion of his net worth since AOL agreed to buy Time Warner in 2000, said in late January that he would resign as the company's vice chairman.

Turner's decision to resign as vice chairman came only weeks after AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case succumbed to investor pressure and said he would resign as the company's chairman in May.

Since late January Turner has sold more than $85 million in stock, which fueled industry speculation he might step down from the board and seek to enact more change at the top by joining with other large investors.

The media mogul and philanthropist has been a fierce critic of the merger, recently referring to the aftermath of the

Turner has voiced dismay at some of the changes made at 24-hour news network CNN and other businesses of Turner Broadcasting, which Turner sold to Time Warner in 1996.

"This is an incremental positive for the company. It suggests that key executives and shareholders of AOL Time Warner, even dissident ones, are still eager to participate in the turnaround that is taking place at the company," said Kaufman Bros. analyst Mark May.

"Had he resigned, I would have viewed it as him throwing in the towel and thinking there was little hope that the turnaround would be successful," May said.

In comments made this week, Turner said he was against splitting up the company's old Time Warner businesses, such as film, cable television and magazine publishing.

AOL Time Warner has said it seeks to shed some so-called non-core assets, such as its books publishing group, stakes in cable networks and its sports teams, to shore up its balance sheet.

Turner also has questioned whether the company's America Online division was a good fit with the rest of the company, suggesting the online business might do better outside of the company. Several investors have advocated a spin-off of the unit and dropping AOL from the company's name.