AOL's purchase of Time Warner resulted in a significant creation of the intangible asset of goodwill. Goodwill is the excess of the price paid for a company over the sum of the fair market value of the net assets of the company. The amortization of this goodwill was $7,231 million in 2001 for AOL Time Warner—significantly impacting operating income and the bottom line earnings. New accounting rules go into effect this year that do away with amortization of purchased goodwill and instead require management to judge the impairment of this asset and make corresponding adjustments. AOL Time Warner expects to take a one-time, non-cash charge of $54 billion for its goodwill in 2002.