Walt Disney Co. chief executive Michael D. Eisner, who survived a takeover bid and a shareholder rebellion aimed at his ouster earlier this year, announced plans yesterday to retire in 2006, ending more than two decades atop what may be the world's best-known entertainment company.
Eisner transformed Disney from a cartoon and amusement park company into a media giant, with television and radio stations and broadcast and cable television networks that produce programs seen in 51 countries. The corporate giant operates cruise ships and three movie studios and sells DVDs, dolls and mouse-eared electronic gadgets found in homes around the world.
Michael D. Eisner helped make Disney into an entertainment giant, acquiring units including ABC and ESPN, earning a reputation as a micromanager in the process.
(Matt Stroshane -- Bloomberg News)
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Over the next two years, Eisner will attempt to position Disney for a future that may look very different, as distribution firms such as the cable giant Comcast Corp. and News Corp.-owned satellite television company DirecTV become ascendant, forcing content providers such as Disney to adapt. Disney is testing new technology to beam movies direct to homes, bypassing the cable and satellite concerns, and is considering entering other profitable media businesses, such as video games. But the most radical of Disney shareholders seek to dismantle the company, returning it to its core businesses of animation and theme parks.
"I think over the next two years as I create an environment for this transition, I'm going to work harder than I ever have," Eisner said in an interview yesterday. As for what he would do in retirement, Eisner said: "I don't know. I haven't thought about that." In a letter to the board, he joked, "I'm going to Disneyland!"
Some analysts speculated yesterday that he may want Disney's chairmanship after he retires, which they said might prevent the company from attracting top chief executive talent, owing to Eisner's reputation for micromanagement. Yesterday, Eisner would say only that he was focused on the last two years of his employment as chief executive.
"It has been a fantastic Disney ride for the past twenty years," Eisner wrote directors. "Ups and downs to be sure, but filled with great satisfaction in building this wonderful creator of classic American culture into one of the premiere entertainment oriented companies in the world.
"My affection for Disney will never retire," he wrote. Eisner said he will depart when his contract ends on Sept. 30, 2006, coinciding with the conclusion of Disney's fiscal year.
Possible successors, according to analyst and industry speculation, include a number of Disney insiders, and chief among them is President Robert A. Iger. "The board knows and Bob knows that he has my confidence," Eisner said yesterday.
Analysts added consumer products division Chairman Andrew P. Mooney; Anne M. Sweeney, recently named president of Disney-ABC Television; and George W. Bodenheimer, president of Disney's highly successful ESPN networks, to the list of potential successors.
Outsiders whose names have surfaced in recent months include News Corp. President Peter Chernin; Viacom Inc. co-chief operating officers Leslie Moonves and Tom Freston; Comcast Corp. chief operating officer Stephen B. Burke, a Disney veteran; and Mel Karmazin, who left his president's job at Viacom in June.
