I believe OP was genuinely interested in identifying rationale for this discrepancy in legal precedent, regardless of any personal stance they hold on the justice of this business deal.
OP didn't describe any particular legal precedent though, so we don't know why OP thinks the AOL deal was legal. There's a big difference between "nobody cared enough to sue or prosecute X behavior" and "X behavior has been tested in court and was ruled legal".