Michael Eisner's Mousetrap: Disney's CEO Has More Problems than He Can face
Eisner 's Mousetrap Disney 's CEO says the company has a lot of varied problems he can fix. But what if the real issue is something he can 't face?
By Marc Gunther Reporter Associate Carol Vinzant
September 6, 1999
FORTUNE Magazine) – Michael Eisner, the famously hands-on CEO of Walt Disney, is up to his old tricks. Last night he screened a rough cut of Dinosaurs, Disney 's big animated movie for next summer; he loved the story but complained that some jokes were stale. Today he 's holding a four-hour brainstorming session about Mickey Mouse, looking for ways to keep the 71-year-old rodent relevant. (One idea: a skateboarding Mickey.) Later, he 'll watch Peter Jennings ' newscast on Disney-owned ABC and surf the Internet to see how the company 's Websites stack up. Is this any way to run the world 's most troubled entertainment giant?
After all, as Eisner sweats the details, earnings are dropping, top executives are defecting, and Disney stock is plunging like a ride down Splash Mountain.
"Maybe I 'm crazy," Eisner says, "but I don 't consider this a crisis. I don 't think our problems are in the fabric of our company. And I don 't have my head in the sand." Sitting down for a two-hour interview, he admits mistakes. He says, for instance, that he should have settled former studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg 's suit against the company earlier to avoid a "parade of horrors" (see box). And he concedes that the company has sustained real damage: "It 's like a train wreck, only nobody got killed." But Eisner denies that he has lost his touch. "The criticisms of me and Disney today," says the 57-year-old chief executive, "are as shortsighted as were the praises of me and Disney in the high economic times."
Sunday nights on ABC, Michael Eisner--celebrated CEO, business magazine cover boy, and author of his own life story--still hosts The Wonderful World of Disney. The rest of the week, life is not so sweet in the Magic Kingdom. Certainly shareholders have reason
By Marc Gunther Reporter Associate Carol Vinzant
September 6, 1999
FORTUNE Magazine) – Michael Eisner, the famously hands-on CEO of Walt Disney, is up to his old tricks. Last night he screened a rough cut of Dinosaurs, Disney 's big animated movie for next summer; he loved the story but complained that some jokes were stale. Today he 's holding a four-hour brainstorming session about Mickey Mouse, looking for ways to keep the 71-year-old rodent relevant. (One idea: a skateboarding Mickey.) Later, he 'll watch Peter Jennings ' newscast on Disney-owned ABC and surf the Internet to see how the company 's Websites stack up. Is this any way to run the world 's most troubled entertainment giant?
After all, as Eisner sweats the details, earnings are dropping, top executives are defecting, and Disney stock is plunging like a ride down Splash Mountain.
"Maybe I 'm crazy," Eisner says, "but I don 't consider this a crisis. I don 't think our problems are in the fabric of our company. And I don 't have my head in the sand." Sitting down for a two-hour interview, he admits mistakes. He says, for instance, that he should have settled former studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg 's suit against the company earlier to avoid a "parade of horrors" (see box). And he concedes that the company has sustained real damage: "It 's like a train wreck, only nobody got killed." But Eisner denies that he has lost his touch. "The criticisms of me and Disney today," says the 57-year-old chief executive, "are as shortsighted as were the praises of me and Disney in the high economic times."
Sunday nights on ABC, Michael Eisner--celebrated CEO, business magazine cover boy, and author of his own life story--still hosts The Wonderful World of Disney. The rest of the week, life is not so sweet in the Magic Kingdom. Certainly shareholders have reason