AOL: Falco, Grant Out; Google’s Armstrong Named CEO

Time Warner (TWX) has named Google (GOOG) Senior VP Tim Armstrong as chairman and CEO of AOL. Current AOL Chief Randy Falco will leave the company after a transition period, as will COO Ron Grant . Armstrong said in a statement that he looks forward to working with Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes to “explore the right structure and future for AOL.” Time Warner has been widely believed to be shopping AOL, with Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) generally viewed as the most likely buyers. Armstrong was a member of Google’s operating committee, and served as the president of the Americas. Armstrong has been at Google since 2000; he’d previously worked at Snowball.com, Disney’s venture arm, and IDG, where he launched I-Way, a consumer Internet magazine. Apparently, when Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield speaks, people listen. (link)