Steve Case, the architect of the $106bn merger of AOL and Time Warner, is to stand down from the top job at the troubled media conglomerate.

Succumbing to months of investor and media pressure to resign, Case said he would step down at the annual shareholders meeting in May. He will remain on the AOL Time Warner board.

Case's departure completes the exodus of the men who conceived the biggest deal of all time. Gerald Levin, the Time Warner chief executive who agreed to sell the media group to AOL, resigned last May. Robert Pittman, the former AOL executive charged with putting the two companies together, quit in the summer.

Case notified current AOL Time Warner chief executive Richard Parsons of his decision to resign over the weekend.

Case told Reuters that he was stepping down so he would not be a distraction at the company, which has been beset by rumours in recent months that he would either be ousted in a boardroom revolt or would leave of his own accord. "There are a lot of challenges we face," said Case. "We need to focus on those, not some debate about Steve Case."

Initially heralded as a sign of the new Internet era, the initial optimism at the merger of AOL and Time Warner quickly soured amid cultural clashes between the two companies and as AOL's business stumbled during downturn that followed the late 90s internet boom. Since the merger, the share price of the combined business has plummeted 70%, with Case often blamed by investors, AOL Time Warner employees and the media for the outcome.