- Joined
- Jan 3, 2001
From today's NYTimes...
March 13, 2005
Iger Is Said to Be Choice for New Chief at Disney
By LAURA M. HOLSON
OS ANGELES, March 12 - The board of The Walt Disney Company is expected to announce on Sunday that Robert A. Iger, Disney's president, will replace Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive who is departing next year, according to a person apprised of the board meeting.
The board met Saturday night and voted to give Mr. Iger the job after interviewing other candidates. Another candidate, Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, told directors on Friday that she was not interested in replacing Mr. Eisner, according to an eBay spokesman.
The decision to give Mr. Iger the job, who began his career at the ABC network nearly 30 years ago and was Mr. Eisner's choice for the job, is sure to raise questions among critics who are likely to complain that the board did not conduct a thorough search. They include the dissident former board members Stanley Gold and Roy Disney, the nephew of the company's founder, who do not support Mr. Iger.
While the board discussed other candidates, in recent weeks it had focused more intently on Mr. Iger. The board met several weeks ago with its search firm, which gave them a lengthy presentation on Mr. Iger. And last weekend the Disney chairman, George J. Mitchell, the former senator from Maine, met with top Disney executives to ask them whether they liked working for Mr. Iger.
Aside from Ms. Whitman, there were several other highly regarded executives who were on the board's short list and considered as possible successors to Mr. Eisner, including Peter Chernin, the chief operating officer of the News Corporation, and Viacom's co-presidents Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves.
March 13, 2005
Iger Is Said to Be Choice for New Chief at Disney
By LAURA M. HOLSON
OS ANGELES, March 12 - The board of The Walt Disney Company is expected to announce on Sunday that Robert A. Iger, Disney's president, will replace Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive who is departing next year, according to a person apprised of the board meeting.
The board met Saturday night and voted to give Mr. Iger the job after interviewing other candidates. Another candidate, Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, told directors on Friday that she was not interested in replacing Mr. Eisner, according to an eBay spokesman.
The decision to give Mr. Iger the job, who began his career at the ABC network nearly 30 years ago and was Mr. Eisner's choice for the job, is sure to raise questions among critics who are likely to complain that the board did not conduct a thorough search. They include the dissident former board members Stanley Gold and Roy Disney, the nephew of the company's founder, who do not support Mr. Iger.
While the board discussed other candidates, in recent weeks it had focused more intently on Mr. Iger. The board met several weeks ago with its search firm, which gave them a lengthy presentation on Mr. Iger. And last weekend the Disney chairman, George J. Mitchell, the former senator from Maine, met with top Disney executives to ask them whether they liked working for Mr. Iger.
Aside from Ms. Whitman, there were several other highly regarded executives who were on the board's short list and considered as possible successors to Mr. Eisner, including Peter Chernin, the chief operating officer of the News Corporation, and Viacom's co-presidents Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves.
