In the end, it was Meg that ultimately took Michael down a peg.
Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, Inc. to be precise.
So, sure, it was Roy & Stanley who — by spreading around that story about how Disney CEO Michael Eisner was sitting in on interview sessions for his replacement — that turned up the heat on the board of directors. But it was Whitman who actually got the ball rolling. She was the one who began talking about how odd she thought it was that Eisner would choose to take part in these interviews. “Save Disney” grabbed that ball and began running with it … And the rest of the story, you know.
Now Disney Company officials are struggling to put as positive a spin as possible on the way that this whole thing all played out. But the fact of the matter is … A Saturday night meeting to deal with corporate succession issues? One that was called so hurriedly that it actually had to be held over the phone? That’s highly unusual, don’t you think?
Now some will tell you that the main reason that this meeting had to be held over the phone was because Disney Chairman George Mitchell had recently fallen and broken his arm. Which is all well & good. But as for the Saturday night part of the equation …
The fact of the matter, folks, is that members of Disney’s board of directors were starting to get concerned about bad publicity again. First there was James Stewart’s “DisneyWar” and all its unsightly revelations about how business was allegedly actually done inside the Mouse House under Michaer Eisner’s rule.
Then there was that scathing comment that News Corporation COO Peter Chernin, once a leading contender for the top spot at Disney, made. After reading Stewart’s book, Chernin said that he was struck by all “the insane personality stuff” that went on at the top corporate level at Disney.
Then — on last Thursday — came that broadside from “Save Disney.” Which revealed that Eisner had been sitting in on the CEO interview sessions as well as trying to get the press excited about the whole Disney-overpaid-for-the-Fox-Family-Channel issue again.
Members of Disney’s board of directors — who had long since written off “Save Disney” as a failed campaign and Disney & Gold as toothless complainers — were somewhat startled to see that the mainsteam media grab Roy & Stanley’s letter and run with it. The whole “Eisner-allegedly-sits-in-on-CEO-interview-sessions” was given considerable play by the press on Friday morning.
Then — late on Friday afternoon — when Ms. Whitman announced that she was taking herself out of the running for the top spot at Disney because (publicly) she said that the process was taking far too long but (privately) Meg was reportedly spooked by Eisner’s presence in the CEO interview sessions … Disney’s board of directors knew that something had to be done and fast.
Why for? Because the Mouse couldn’t afford to have any of this new bad news about the corporation & its dealings get any real traction. You see, even though the Walt Disney Company’s fortunes seemed to be on the upswing — with ABC’s ratings going through the roof and advance bookings for the resorts at the Disney theme parks tracking well ahead of projections — the fact of the matter is … Were you to do any real poking at Disney’s recent claims of success, you’d find that virtually all of these gains are actually paper thin.
To explain: ABC’s recent revival is based on the success on just a handful of new shows. While many of the network’s other programs (particularly its sad array of aging sitcoms) have been performing rather poorly lately and will soon be in need of replacement.
And as for all those people who are reportedly making plans to visit Disneyland and Walt Disney World to take part in “The Happiest Celebration on Earth” … As gas prices continue to climb, Disney officials have privately begun expressing concerns that many travelers will find it just too expensive to make that drive down to Anaheim & Orlando. Which could result in this year-and-a-half long event not meeting its financial projections.
So — as you can see — with Disney’s revival truthfully being as tenuous as it is, this wasn’t really a situation where the company could afford having the media turn the heat up. As in: Having the press suddenly paying extra close attention to every move that the Mouse was making. Out of fear of what all that extra attention might do to Disney’s stock price.
Which was why it was decided — after a frantic series of phone calls on Saturday morning — that the best thing to do was probably just get it over with. Put an end to the months of rumors & speculation about who Eisner’s successor might be by quickly putting the matter to a vote and then just giving the job to Iger.
As you might expect, this announcement drew the predictable response from Roy & Stan. On the heels of those first reports in the press early Sunday morning that Bob had officially been named as Michael’s replacement, “Save Disney” issued yet another missive. This time around, Disney & Gold blasted George Mitchell & Disney’s board for reneging on their earlier pledge to conduct ” … a bona fide search” for a new CEO. They insisted that Mitchell’s earlier promise was just a ruse to avoid a floor fight at Disney’s 2005 annual meeting.
For his defense, Disney’s Chairman insisted that the company had in fact mounted a legitimate search for a new CEO. In interviews that he held with the press yesterday, Mitchell described how Disney had actually deliberately held off meeting with outside candidates until the board had gotten back from Minneapolis. So that they could then concentrate on this all important task without any outside distractions.
Disney’s chairman then went on to describe how the board met 11 separate times to discuss succession issues. So that they could then take a careful, measured approach to the selection process. Which wasn’t originally slated to wrap up ’til sometime in June.
“But if that was really the case, then why the rush job?,” you query. “Why was it necessary for Disney’s board of directors to hurriedly convene on a Saturday night and announce the company’s CEO three months ahead of the previously announced schedule?” These are all excellent questions, folks. Ones that the Walt Disney Company genuinely hopes that mainstream reporters won’t be asking anytime soon.
As for how the Mouse would like to see this all play out … Michael Eisner now gets his victory lap. Disney’s out-going CEO presides over the May 5th launch of “The Happiest Celebration on Earth.” Michael also gets to stand in the media spotlight for Disneyland’s actual birthday on July 17th as well as Hong Kong Disneyland’s grand opening on September 12th before riding off into the sunset on September 30th. A full year ahead of schedule.
Which — I have to admit — kind of took me by surprise. The very idea that Uncle Mikey would voluntarily give up power prior to the official September 2006 expiration date of his contract with the Walt Disney Company.
But — based on the letter that Eisner sent to Disney’s board of directors yesterday — it really does seem like the once-embattled CEO is eager to exit. “As much as I have loved nearly every minute of my tenure at Disney,” Michael wrote,”two decades is enough time to spend as a chief executive officer of one company. I’m ready to move on and climb new mountains.”
Of course, those of you who are looking for hidden meanings here may find particular significance in the next passage of Eisner’s letter. Which reads: ” … while always being available to help Disney in any way I can.” Some Disney watchers are already suggesting that this is Michael’s less-than-subtle hint that he wishes to hang onto some sort of power at the Mouse House.
And — yet — in other portions of this same letter, Eisner seemed quite definitive about wanting to put his days at Disney behind him. “Although I intend to remain as a Disney director until the annual meeting of 2006,” Disney’s out-going CEO goes on to say, “I will not make a request of the board to nominate me for an additional term nor will I seek the chairmanship of the company after the retirement of George Mitchell.”
To some Disney watchers, the key word in the above sentence is “request.” As in: “I will not request the position of chairman. But — should Disney’s board of directors decide to nominate me anyway … Well, what the hey. I’ll take the job.”
Me personally? I don’t know if I really want to buy in with the Disney conspiracy theorists are saying on this issue. Though I will say that it’ll be genuinely intriguing to see who will eventually emerge as a viable candidate for Chairman of the Board position after Mitchell officially steps down in September of 2006.
So what happens now? Well, Disney’s PR staff is going to stand by and hope that the mainstream press accepts this rather hurried changing-of-the-guard without asking too many embarassing questions.
Roy & Stanley will also probably carefully consider their options. Weighing whether it would be wise to actively continue their “Save Disney” campaign now and possibly be viewed as spoilers. Or to just hang back for a while, wait ’til Iger has been in power for a number of months and actually made a few mistakes, then come back with a “The Walt Disney Company needs better leadership” campaign.
As for the immediate future … Well, Iger’s appointment doesn’t officially become effective ’til October 1st of this year. The transition process begins today, though. With Eisner supposedly showing Iger the ropes and slowly handing off his CEO duties to Bob over the next six months.
I’m told that some very powerful people in Hollywood have already called Iger, congratulating him on finally securing the top spot at Disney. Though — that said — I’ve also heard that there are already a couple of jokes bouncing around Burbank about the way this deal went down.
Here’s my favorite (so far): “Give that Bob only got this job because Meg opted to bail out of the interview process, would it be really tacky of me to buy Iger’s congrats-you-got-the-gig gift off of eBay?”
Which — I have to admit — is kind of funny. Though I’d imagine that Roy & Stanley can’t be all that amused with the way this all played out. Certainly, when they began talking up the whole Eisner-is-sitting-in-on-the-CEO-interview sessions last Thursday, this can’t be how Disney & Gold imagined this situation would eventually unfold.
Which is why — in spite of the fact that Disney’s PR office is insisting that this whole succession issue has been dealt with in a peaceful & professional manner — I can’t help but think that this story really isn’t over yet.
So JHM will continue to keep a close eye on this Iger-in-Eisner-out situation in the weeks ahead. And — should anything interesting happen — we’ll be sure to write about it here.
But — for now — what are your thoughts on how this all went down? Doesn’t this strike you as odd that Disney’s board of directors had to resolve this matter so quickly on a Saturday night? I mean, why the rush?
Your thoughts?