

In early 1985, von Meister left the company. Kimsey was brought in by his West Point friend Frank Caufield, an investor in the company. In May 1983, Jim Kimsey became a manufacturing consultant for Control Video, which was near bankruptcy. In January 1983, Steve Case was hired as a marketing consultant for Control Video on the recommendation of his brother, investment banker Dan Case. The telephone disconnected and the downloaded game would remain in GameLine's Master Module and playable until the user turned off the console or downloaded another game. GameLine permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of $1 per game. Subscribers bought a modem from the company for $49.95 and paid a one-time $15 setup fee. Its sole product was an online service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game console, after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Bros. On September 1, 2021, AOL became part of the new Yahoo! Inc.ĪOL began in 1983, as a short-lived venture called Control Video Corporation ( CVC), founded by William von Meister.

On May 3, 2021, Verizon announced it would sell Yahoo and AOL to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion. On June 23, 2015, AOL was acquired by Verizon Communications for $4.4 billion. Under his leadership, the company invested in media brands and advertising technologies. AOL was eventually spun off from Time Warner in 2009, with Tim Armstrong appointed the new CEO. AOL rapidly shrank thereafter, partly due to the decline of dial-up and rise of broadband.

In 2001, at the height of its popularity, it purchased the media conglomerate Time Warner in the largest merger in U.S. In 1998, AOL purchased Netscape for US$4.2 billion. It originally provided a dial-up service to millions of Americans, pioneered instant messaging, and in 1993 began adding internet access. ĪOL was one of the early pioneers of the Internet in the early-1990s, and the most recognized brand on the web in the United States. By 1995, AOL had about three million active users. AOL grew to become the largest online service, displacing established players like CompuServe and The Source.

A new IBM PC client was launched in 1988, and eventually renamed as America Online in 1989. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link (Q-Link), that went online in November 1985. The service traces its history to an online service known as PlayNET. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. and originally known as America Online ) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc.
