Online media and technology company, America Online, listed on the NASDAQ in March 1992. In May 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused the company of inflating profits in 1995 and 1996 by capitalising costs which should have been expensed. AOL's 1996 reported pre-tax income of US$62m would have been decreased to a pre-tax loss of US$175m if expenses had been accounted for properly. In 2003, the Washington Post reported that the SEC was probing more AOL advertising deals. It transpired that from mid-2000 to 2002, AOL had inflated advertising revenues by US$1bn before and after its January 2001 merger with Time Warner. On 21 March 2005, after an SEC investigation, AOL-Time Warner was fined US$300m and required to restate its financials.

Last updated February 2022

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