Mr. Levin said he had been reflecting on the disastrous merger and cited a piece in The New York Times on Sandy Weill, the former chief executive of Citigroup who built in the bank into a behemoth only to watch it nearly collapse. While Mr. Weill told The Times he felt “incredibly sad” and acknowledged some of his own mistakes for the Citi debacle, he was also quick to blame his former co-C.E.O., John Reed, and his successor, Charles Prince.

However, Mr. Levin said he felt it was important for business leaders to take responsibility for their mistakes. “I’m not going to blame any predecessors or successors; I helped pick them and I have great respect for them,” Mr. Levin said, asking: “Where is the stand-up leadership that’s going to take responsibility for what’s happened and do something about it?”

via Levin Is Sorry for Creating AOL Time Warner – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com.

Obviously my family was affected greatly by this merger personally and professionally in so many ways, I do appreciate that he has publicly acknowledged his responsiblity. It doesn’t change things or make it better – but if more leaders would actually step up it may impact future leaders behaviors and decisions.