The $200 billion apology

The 2001 merger of Time Warner and AOL is widely regarded as the most disastrous corporate tie-up of all time. The driving force behind the deal was Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL who finally left the combined company's board last year. This week, he apologised.

"Yes, I'm sorry I did it," he said of the deal which wiped out some $200 billion in shareholder value. "I'm disappointed and frustrated that it hasn't developed in the way that we all hoped at the time it could."