Disney CEO refuses to offer succession plan
Wednesday November 13, 2:20 pm ET
By Christopher Grimes in New York
Michael Eisner,_Disney_chairman and chief executive, has denied that members of the company's board had pushed for his removal and stressed that his relationship with them remains good.
Mr Eisner also said that revealing a succession plan - as some investors have urged Disney to do - would hinder his effectiveness as leader. He said it would be appropriate to unveil a succession plan one year before he was due to retire, but noted that his contract runs until 2006.
"The day you announce a succession plan, you ask the CEO to be a lame duck," Mr Eisner said on Wednesday at a forum_held by The Newhouse School, The New Yorker Magazine and UBS Warburg. "I still like what I'm doing and I'm not 102."
Mr Eisner, 59, has come under fire this year amid poor performance at the ABC television network and declining attendance at Disney's theme parks. Stanley Gold, a Disney board member, was said to have pressed Mr Eisner to significantly increase the company's performance.
"I have a good relationship with our board," Mr Eisner said.
The board "understands the effects of the end of a boom era" and the impact that terrorism fears have had on tourism, he said. He added that TV advertising had improved this autumn and some evening's ratings for ABC had also improved.
He also maintained his stance that chances of a merger of ABC's news operation with CNN's stood at 50-50. ABC would gain access to CNN's international bureaux, while CNN could benefit from access to ABC's high-profile anchors.
But talks have not progressed far enough to address the issue of which company would control the merged group, he said.
"Is there an issue about control? We haven't gotten that far," he said.
