After Albrecht?

After almost five years as CEO, Albrecht seemed destined for another tour of duty when his contract ended this year. According to Time Warner insiders, Bewkes was gearing up to begin what were expected to be tough, though successful, negotiations on a new employment agreement. That prospect began to disintegrate in the wee hours of last weekend. Albrecht, who's based in Los Angeles, had attended the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight with his girlfriend, landing a prime seat because the bout was an HBO event. After the contest, HBO held one of Sin City's many celebrity-studded, fight-night parties. For HBO, it was a time to be giddy: the super-welterweight match generated $120 million from HBO's pay-per-view telecast, making the boxing contest the richest fight in history, The Associated Press reported citing anonymous sources. At the party, according to witnesses, Albrecht slammed back tequila shots like a frat boy.

The incident with his girlfriend, who has been identified in various press accounts as a correspondent for Telemundo and HBO, happened around 3 a.m. at the valet entrance of the MGM Grand. Albrecht and the woman had been arguing when he grabbed her by the throat with both hands and attempted to drag her toward the entrance of the hotel, according to a report by Las Vegas police who witnessed the incident. A drunken Albrecht informed police that his girlfriend "had pissed me off" and that he was the CEO of HBO, according to the police report. Albrecht has yet to face any charges resulting from the incident, and the alleged victim told police she didn't want to press charges and wouldn't cooperate with their investigation.

With news of the incident splashed across headlines worldwide, Albrecht on Tuesday took a paid leave from his post, telling his colleagues in a statement that he'd fallen off the wagon after years of sobriety, and apologizing for the embarrassment. But the attempt to rehabilitate himself and save his job collapsed a day later when the Los Angeles Times published a front-page story reporting that it wasn't the first time Albrecht had been involved in an incident like this. In 1991, HBO had reached a secret $400,000 settlement to quash the disclosure of an assault by Albrecht on a colleague he was dating; she had alleged that Albrecht shoved and choked her, according to the Los Angeles Times. Last Wednesday afternoon, Time Warner announced that it had asked Albrecht to quit, making it clear that the company otherwise would have fired him. It was the kind of demise you'd expect to find in "The Sopranos," which itself is on the way out. And it's a tragic way to end a career.

—With Steve Friess in Las Vegas

© 2007