|
Searching for a successor
|
 |
December 13, 1996: 7:14 p.m. ET
Ovitz resignation the latest setback in struggle to find No. 2 for Eisner
From Correspondent Casey Wian
|
LOS ANGELES (CNNfn) - Now that the rocky marriage between the Walt Disney Co. and Michael Ovitz, who resigned as president Thursday, is over, Wall Street and Hollywood want to know who will replace Ovtiz at the alter.
Ovitz's departure leaves a hole at the top of the entertainment conglomerate's management.
He was considered the natural successor to Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, whose longevity at that position is questioned because of his 1994 quadruple bypass heart surgery.
Vice Chairman of Time Warner Inc. Ted Turner stressed the need for a clear line of succession in a corporation. (133K WAV) or (133K AIFF)
The chain of command at Disney has been fragile since 1994 when then-president Frank Wells was killed in a helicopter crash.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former head of Disney's studio operations, left and started DreamWorks SKG after he didn't get Wells' job.
Highly regarded former chief financial officer Stephen Bollenbach left Disney last year to become CEO of Hilton Hotels.
"It begs the question: Who would succeed Eisner? There is no one conspicuously there that could do it right now," said entertainment analyst Arthur Rockwell of Yaeger Capital Markets.
"Eisner feels that he is in command for the foreseeable future. He's not looking for a number two. The board may be looking for one, but not Michael."
The Ovitz fiasco is a blemish on an otherwise strong year for Disney, which swallowed ABC and still reported fiscal 1996 profits of $1.5 billion.
Ovitz leaves Disney with a severance package that could be worth $90 million.
In the end, it's Disney's shareholders who will pay for the failed effort to transform a Hollywood power broker into a corporate executive. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Walt Disney Company
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
