Middelhoff considers AOL job offer

NEWS Ousted Bertelsmann boss Thomas Middelhoff is mulling a job offer from AOL Time Warner. The 49-year-old German, once hailed as a superstar in the media world, is currently in talks with his former employer to agree the details of his severance package. But already the competition is moving in to snap-up the newly available Middelhoff. Yesterday, sources quoted by Reuters claimed he is considering a move to AOL Time Warner, which is on the look-out for a chief operating officer following the resignation of Robert Pittman. Middelhoff already has close ties with the US media giant. After taking up the role of CEO at Bertelsmann in 1998, he engineered a deal with AOL that was to last until the Time Warner merger of 2000. But Middelhoff is not thought to be in a hurry to make any decisions about the future of his career. In addition, he can look forward to what is expected to be one of the most generous pay-offs in German history. Middelhoff was about to sign another five year deal with Bertelsmann - a fact that is likely to be reflected in his final pay-off terms. Yesterday speculation was rife that Middlehoff was being lined-up to replace Ron Sommer, the recently departed chief of Deutsche Telekom. However, this claim has been dismissed by the telecoms company as being "without basis".