Parsons was named chief executive officer of AOL Time Warner in 2002 after the $124-billion merger of the dial-up internet provider and the largest entertainment and media company started to fall apart.

Mr. Parsons’s lengthy résumé is a catalog of corporate emergencies at Time Warner, Citigroup and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Richard Parsons, the executive dubbed “Captain Emergency” for his record of stabilizing ailing companies such as AOL Time Warner, Citigroup Inc. and Dime Savings Bank of New York, has died. He was 76.

He led Time Warner, Citigroup and the Los Angeles Clippers through difficult periods.

"The right guy in the right place at the right time," he steadied the ship after the ill-fated merger with AOL, then stepped in briefly for Leslie Moonves at CBS Corp.