Taking Final Bow
By Greg Hernandez, Daily News, Los Angeles
Sep. 28–For a man who once personally hosted ABC’s “Wonderful World of Disney” as only Walt Disney himself had ever done before, Michael D. Eisner has been uncharacteristically low-key as he prepares to give up the helm of The Walt Disney Co. on Friday.
Aside from presiding over the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland earlier this month, the outgoing Disney CEO has, for several months now, been ceding the limelight to his handpicked successor, Robert Iger.
But at a packed luncheon of entertainment industry movers and shakers Tuesday afternoon, Eisner took center stage once more.
“The most gratifying experience of my life has been my 21 years at Disney,” Eisner said at The Hollywood Radio & Television Society’s Newsmaker luncheon at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
“The culture of the company, the ethic, the assets, the enthusiasm was there when I arrived in 1984 and I’m proud as I leave to see that they are still there, with an outstanding CEO about to lead the company forward beginning next week.”
Except to say that he leaves Disney “with less hair than when I arrived,” Eisner offered little reflection on the triumphs and travails that characterized his more than two-decade tenure at the company.
“I’m following the script, no improvising,” an upbeat Eisner said following his speech and after posing for photographs in front of the stage with his family.
Standing nearby was Iger, who seemed determined to allow Eisner to bask in the limelight and not draw much attention to himself. But he made some brief remarks on Eisner to a few reporters after the event.
“Working for him has been one of the more memorable experiences of my career and clearly one of the most satisfying,” said Iger, who officially will assume the reins of the company Monday.
Eisner, 63, has admirers in Iger and others but also made some high-profile business foes over the years, including former seconds-in-command Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Ovitz, Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, and Miramax Films founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein.
In his prepared speech Tuesday, Eisner indirectly addressed the issue of personality conflicts in an industry filled with “imperfect institutions” comprised of people who bring their “complicated baggage to the office.”
“Stress and intensity of personality and reasonable conflict is ultimately a good thing,” he insisted.
“If an organization didn’t have such a diverse mix of real-world, three-dimensional people with real business and creative passion in them, then everybody would be the same and there is nothing more stagnating than sameness and mediocrity in products and people. It is often this friction that creates great fiction.”
Eisner is now more than a full 18 months removed from the conflict and friction that marked the low point of his later more turbulent years at Disney.
It was in early 2004 that the company’s board of directors voted to strip him of his dual roles as chairman and CEO after an unprecedented shareholder rebellion that rocked the 2004 annual meeting in Philadelphia.
The devastating vote of no confidence came shortly after Comcast Corp. made a hostile takeover bid for Disney and after Pixar Animation Studios’ Jobs, blaming Eisner, announced plans to sever its lucrative partnership with the company.
The Comcast bid, ultimately rejected by the Disney board, seemed to cast light on some of Disney’s perceived weaknesses, and pension houses and investment houses picked up on the growing anti-Eisner sentiment sparked by dissident former board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold.
Another bitter controversy, the hiring and firing of Ovitz a decade ago, ended favorably for Disney in court last month. A judge ruled that Disney’s board was not in breach of its fiscal duties when approving the hiring of Ovitz, who received a hefty severance package after his ouster. The court decision, stemming from a shareholder lawsuit, is on appeal.
While the events of recent years cast something of a cloud over his legacy, Disney’s financial performance continued to improve and Eisner is leaving the company on firm footing.
Last month, Disney posted a 41 percent increase in third-quarter profit with its ABC broadcast network in full resurgence mode and theme park numbers up, offsetting a down year for the movie studio division.
Eisner attributed the gains to his long-term strategy of positioning the company as a global entertainment leader. In 1984, when Eisner took over, the company had $1.5 billion in revenues with a stock price of $1.33 per share. In 2004, the company had revenues of $30.8 billion. Shares closed Tuesday at $23.36.
Iger has been effusive in his praise of Eisner’s performance as CEO.
“He (has) built incredible shareholder value and built Walt Disney Co. into the media conglomerate that it is today,” Iger said last week at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia Conference in New York.
Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said it was “kind of fitting” that Eisner ends his reign with the opening earlier this month of Hong Kong Disneyland, the company’s 11th theme park.
“Hong Kong Disneyland is a perfect example of what Michael Eisner accomplished in his nearly 23 years, which is the evolution and expansion of the Disney franchise all over the world,” Rasulo said. “Look at where it was in 1984 and where it is today. You can see Hong Kong Disneyland as a logical step in the evolution of growing the theme park and resort business and the other businesses have similar stories to tell.”
Some highlights and lowlights of Michael D. Eisner’s 20-year history at The Walt Disney Co:
1984: Eisner assumes positions of chairman and chief executive officer.
1992: Euro Disney opens (now Disneyland Paris).
1993: Disney buys Miramax Films. 1996: Disney officially buys ABC broadcasting network.
1996: Disney buys California Angels baseball team.
2001: Disney’s California Adventure opens in Anaheim.
Jan. 2004: Pixar Animation Studios calls off talks to extend partnership with Disney, blames Eisner.
Feb. 2004: Comcast Corp. makes unsuccessful hostile takeover bid for Disney.
March 2004: Shareholder revolt results in Eisner being stripped of chairman title.
Sept. 2004: Eisner announces he will step down as CEO.
March 2005: Miramax Films co-founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein announce departure from Disney.
Sept. 2005: Hong Kong Disneyland opens.
Sept. 30, 2005: Eisner’s last official day as CEO.
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