AOL

AOL Media LLC (formerly a predecessor company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is a web portal and former online service provider based in New York City. It is owned by Bending Spoons.

AOL traces its history to PlayNET, an online service. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link, which went online in November 1985. An IBM PC compatible client was launched in 1988. The service was renamed as America Online (abbreviated as AOL) in 1989. AOL grew to become the largest online service, ahead of established players CompuServe and Prodigy. By 1995, AOL had about three million active users.

AOL was at one point the most recognized Internet-related brand in the United States. AOL was an internet service provider (ISP) and once provided dial-up Internet access to millions of Americans and pioneered chat rooms and instant messaging with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). In 1998, AOL purchased Netscape for US$4.2 billion. As of 2000, AOL was providing internet service to over 20 million consumers. In 2001, at the height of its popularity, it purchased Time Warner for stock in the largest merger in US history. AOL shrank rapidly thereafter, partly due to the decline of dial-up Internet access and the rise of broadband.

AOL was spun off from Time Warner in 2009, with Tim Armstrong appointed the new CEO. Under his leadership, the company invested in media brands and advertising technologies. In 2015, AOL was acquired by Verizon Communications for $4.4 billion, and was merged with Yahoo the following year after the it was also acquired by Verizon under Verizon Media. In August 2021, Verizon sold Verizon Media (and thus AOL) to affiliates of Apollo Global Management for $5 billion, In January 2026, Apollo sold AOL to Bending Spoons for $1.5 billion.