Robert Pittman

One of the founders of MTV and later the No. 3 at AOL Time Warner. In 1996, Pittman joined Steve Case at AOL after Case hired him as the company's president. One of the chief proponents of the 2001 merger between AOL and Time Warner, Pittman was the man responsible for selling the deal to Wall Street and following the merger, he became the No. 3 executive at the combined company. When it became abundantly clear that the deal had been a major strategic misstep and Time Warner shareholders mounted a revolt following the collapse of the dot-com boom, Pittman (along with bosses Steve Case and Jerry Levin) were shown to the door. He founded the Pilot Group shortly thereafter.