In 2001, after AOL used its fortunes as the leading provider of Internet access in the U.S. to buy Time Warner for $106 billion in stock, Parsons became co-chief operating officer with AOL executive Robert Pittman. In that role, he was in charge of the company’s content businesses, including movie studios and recorded music.

Richard Parsons built a reputation for steering big companies through tough times. Richard Parsons, one of corporate America’s most prominent Black executives who held top posts at Time Warner and Citigroup,

Parsons was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2015 and cited “unanticipated complications” from the disease for cutting back on work a few years later.