New Disney Boss to Give Unit Heads More Control
Tue Apr 5, 2005 10:18 PM ET
By Sue Zeidler
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. CEO-designate Robert Iger said on Tuesday he plans to delegate more power to top executives at Disney's various business units as one of his first major initiatives in running the company.
"We announced last week that we were changing direction in terms of strategic planning," Iger told reporters at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association convention in San Francisco. "We are empowering our business unit executives to create strategies for their own businesses and be accountable for the strategic direction of their units."
Iger was appointed chief executive last month and is set to start the job in the fall. As Disney's president and chief operating officer since 2000, he has been widely viewed as a loyal lieutenant to outgoing CEO Michael Eisner, and investors are anxious to see how he acts as the boss.
"I firmly believe the company needs to set goals and to create direction and accountability, but I believe it's incumbent upon the very talented and experienced people running our businesses to be the chief strategists for their individual businesses," he said.
"We're going to maintain a strategic process at the corporation itself, but this is more about empowering our businesses at a time when to compete effectively on the world stage, if you're a global media company, it's important to have nimble decision-making to create strategies that are part of the overall process of running a business," he said.
While Iger wants to give more power to the company's individual units, he said Disney had no plans to split up in a way that Viacom Inc. has said it was considering doing.
"We believe we've done a very effective job at managing our businesses in a very integrated fashion on a lot of levels, so we have no intention in splitting the company in a manner that would be similar to what they have done," Iger said.
"But we're always looking at our asset base," he said. "I don't rule out the possibility of divesting assets, but we don't have any plans nor do we think it makes any sense to split our company in two."
Iger reiterated he wants to reopen talks with Pixar Animation Studios Inc., which last year broke off talks to extend a distribution deal with Disney beyond 2005.
"I did say I'd like to and I hope we have an opportunity (to talk), but I don't want to say anything beyond that right now," he said.
A chill between the companies is widely attributed to stormy relations between Pixar Chief Executive Steve Jobs and Eisner. Jobs has signaled that he was waiting for a change at the top of Disney before negotiating in earnest a distribution deal for his 2007 film, but he also said he was unlikely to extend the relationship with Disney.
Iger's promotion opens up the No. 2 slot at Disney, and he said on Tuesday he might consider hiring someone in a chief operating officer-style role.
"I don't rule that out," he said. "I'm going to spend time during this transition process determining in consultation with the board what the most effective structure of the company would be. I had a good partnership with Michael as CEO and COO. I don't rule out the possibility of naming a COO, but this is part of process and part of the transition and the dialog I'll have with the board."
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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