 However, under pressure from institutional investor vice-president Gordon Crawford who lined up dissenters, Case stated in January 2003 that he would not stand for re-election as executive chairman in the upcoming annual meeting, making CEO Richard Parsons the chairman-elect.On October 22, 2003, the company dropped the "AOL" from its name, and spun off Time-Life's ownership under the legal name Direct Holdings Americas, Inc. On November 24, 2003, Time Warner announced they would sell the Warner Music Group, which hosted a variety of acts such as Madonna and Prince, to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners, in order to cut its debt down to US$20 million.Case resigned from the Time Warner board on October 31, 2005.