America Online’s Ad Chief Leaving

America Online said advertising chief Robert Sherman has resigned after a year with the unit, where ad sales are forecast to fall as much as 45%.

The AOL Time Warner Inc. subsidiary said last week that sales of new ads rose in the first quarter and that it expected “double-digit” ad growth in 2004.

Sherman, who had come out of retirement to help reverse a sales slide, leaves his job as president of interactive marketing today, a spokesman said.

“AOL’s ad business has begun to turn around, and Bob has been the principal driver of that effort,” America Online Chief Executive Jonathan Miller said in a memo to employees.

Sherman could not be reached for comment.