(FORTUNE Magazine) – No sooner do we chronicle the feats of the super-CFO (November 13, 1995) than this new action hero strikes again. By switching from finance chief at Walt Disney Co. to CEO of Hilton Hotels--a tiny trek from Burbank to Beverly Hills--Stephen Bollenbach single-handedly boosted Hilton's shares 21%, to $89.50, swelling its market value by more than $750 million.

Marvels Gary Wilson, the co-chairman of Northwest Airlines who mentored Bollenbach in the early 1980s at Marriott Corp.: "This shows what a good finance guy is worth."

So did his star turn at Disney. In ten months there, Bollenbach spearheaded the heralded $19 billion takeover of Capital Cities/ABC. But his chances of succeeding CEO Michael Eisner faded with the arrival of Michael Ovitz. As those big ears crowded the Magic Kingdom, Bollenbach began talking to Barron Hilton, 68, who pondered passing his mantle to the first nonfamily CEO in Hilton's 77-year history. The courtship started last summer at Mr. Hilton's Nevada ranch, a rustic Disneyland. Hilton took Bollenbach and wife soaring--in a hot-air balloon, a helicopter, and assorted airplanes. In between, the guests shot clay pigeons and hooked trout and bass in a pair of private ponds. And no waiting on line.

Barron is banking on Bollenbach's financial acumen to open a trove of shareholder value. Lazy and indecisive, Hilton has rested on its name in hotels and gaming while rivals such as Marriott and Promus rapidly expanded their franchises--and profits.

Bollenbach will drive for growth in hotels, an industry that is reviving rapidly. Hilton carries a conservative amount of debt, seemingly odd for a company that owns casinos but catnip for Bollenbach, an apostle of leverage. He's going to roll the dice, pledging not only to buy big urban hotels but to challenge Marriott as well by building a slew of suburban inns. "Now that the excess supply is gone," he says, "this is a wonderful time to grow in the hotel business."

Meanwhile, back at Mouse Central, Eisner lost no time naming a replacement. In fact, Disney announced Bollenbach's departure as secondary news to the reappointment of 35-year-old Richard D. Nanula to the CFO position he was forced to vacate barely a year ago. Nanula didn't want the job he got as president of Disney Store Worldwide, but he handled the reassignment fairly gracefully, even as Eisner was conducting the search that led to Bollenbach. Eisner was then bent on shaking up his management team. "Nanula would have been happy being CFO until he was 65," Eisner said. With Eisner and Ovitz holding down the top, he may now get that chance.

--Shawn Tully