Executives at the AOL division, however, are hoping to tamp down expectations, people who have worked with them on their plans said.

His executives had just presented the latest strategy for improving the fortunes of the company's AOL division, basically making it a free service.

The company will look for a new chief financial officer for the AOL division.

It said that those divisions had in some cases delivered advertising as part of broader deals tied to the AOL division.

"There was a lack of leadership at the AOL division," he said, as some of its top executives went elsewhere.

Instead of the company's crown jewel, the AOL division has become an albatross.

But he has been given responsibility for the tortured AOL division.

But he said that he expected the first quarter of 2003 to be the bottom for the AOL division.

The company's biggest challenge remains at its troubled AOL division.

At the AOL division alone, he said, the company expects its cash flow to decline 15 to 25 percent this year.