| Michael Eisner | |
| Born | March 7, 1942 Mt. Kisco, New York |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Entertainment executive |
| Spouse | Jane Breckenridge (1967 - present) |
Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) was CEO of The Walt Disney Company from September 22, 1984 to September 30, 2005. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Mount Kisco is both a village and a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The entertainment industry (much of which is informally known as show business or show biz) consists of a large number of sub-industries devoted to Entertainment Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
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Early life
Michael Eisner was born in Mt. Kisco, New York, and raised on Park Avenue in Manhattan. Mount Kisco is both a village and a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. Park Avenue (formerly Fourth Avenue) is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City Borough of Manhattan Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York He attended the Lawrenceville School and graduated from Denison University in 1964 with a B.A. in English. The Lawrenceville School is a Coeducational independent preparatory Boarding school for grades 9-12 located on in the historic community of Lawrenceville Denison University is a private residential liberal arts and Sciences College in Granville Ohio, approximately 30 miles (50 km east of English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of Literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U He is a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Delta Upsilon ( ΔY) is the 6th oldest international all-male college Greek-letter social fraternity and is the first non-secret fraternity ever His great-grandfather[1] was one of the first uniform suppliers to the Boy Scouts of America. The Boy Scouts of America ( BSA) is the largest youth organization in the United States with over five million
ABC and Paramount
After two brief stints at NBC and CBS, Barry Diller at ABC hired Eisner as Assistant to the National Programming Director. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. Barry Diller (born 2 February 1942 is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. Eisner moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a senior vice president in charge of programming and development. In 1976, Diller, who had by then moved on to become chairman of Paramount Pictures, recruited Eisner from ABC and made him president and CEO of the movie studio. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. During his tenure at Paramount, the studio turned out such hit films as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, the Star Trek film franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Beverly Hills Cop, and hit TV shows such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Cheers and Family Ties. Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 film starring John Travolta as Tony Manero a troubled Brooklyn youth whose weekend activities are dominated Grease is a film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Jim Jacobs ' and Warren Casey 's musical, Grease Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 Adventure film directed by Steven Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American action - Comedy film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy Happy Days is an American Television sitcom that originally aired from 1974 to 1984 on ABC. Laverne & Shirley was a popular American television Situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1976 to 1983 Cheers is an American Situation comedy television series that ran eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993 Family Ties is a Television Sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons from 1982 to 1989
Diller left Paramount in 1984, and, as his protege, Eisner expected to assume Diller's position as studio chief. When he was passed over for the job, though, he left to look for work elsewhere and lobbied for the position of CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
Disney
Walt Disney Productions had been struggling since its founder's death in 1966 and had narrowly survived takeover attempts by corporate raiders when its shareholders Sid Bass and Roy E. Disney brought on Eisner and former Warner Brothers chief Frank Wells to replace Ron W. Miller in 1984 and turn the company around. Sid Richardson Bass (born 1942 is an American investor and billionaire Roy Edward Disney KCSG (born January 10, 1930) was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company, which his father Roy Oliver Frank Wells ( March 4, 1932 - April 3, 1994) was an American Entertainment Businessman. Ronald William Miller (born 1931 is a former professional American football player the son-in-law of Walt Disney, and a former president and CEO of The Walt
During the second half of the 1980s and 1990s, the studio revitalised, and the division had a "golden age" with annual box office hits with such regularity that even their creative structure started to be known as the "Disney formula. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 " Disney also broadened its adult offerings in film when then Disney Studio Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg acquired Miramax Films in 1993. Jeffrey Katzenberg (born December 21, 1950 in New York City) is a Jewish American Film producer and CEO Disney acquired many other media sources, including ABC and ESPN. The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to
During the early part of the 1990s, Eisner and his partners set out to plan "The Disney Decade" which was to feature new parks around the world, existing park expansions, new films, and new media investments. While some of the proposals did follow through, most did not. These include WestCOT, Disney's America, Disney-MGM Studios Paris, and among film projects, a Who Framed Roger Rabbit franchise. Disney's California Adventure WestCOT was a planned theme park to be built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California. Disney's America was a theme park that was to be built by The Walt Disney Company in Haymarket Virginia in the early 1990s. Walt Disney Studios Park is the second theme park of Disneyland Resort Paris, but also owned and operated by Euro Disney S Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 Live-action/animated film produced by Amblin Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company (released
Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash in 1994. (The Lion King, which is the most successful hand-drawn animated picture, was released slightly over two months later in his memory). The Lion King is a 1994 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released in theaters on June 15 1994 Shortly thereafter, Jeffrey Katzenberg resigned and formed Dreamworks SKG with partners Steven Spielberg and David Geffen because Eisner would not appoint Katzenberg to Wells' now-available post. DreamWorks LLC, also known as DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, or DreamWorks Studios, is a major American Film studio Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (Hon (born December 18 1946 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and producer. David Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American Record executive, Film producer, Theatrical producer and philanthropist Instead, Eisner recruited his friend Michael Ovitz, one of the founders of the Creative Artists Agency, to be President, with minimal involvement from Disney's board of directors (which at the time included Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier, the CEO of Hilton Hotels Corporation Stephen Bollenbach, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, Yale dean Robert A. M. Stern, and Eisner's predecessors Raymond Watson and Card Walker). Michael S Ovitz (b December 14 1946, Los Angeles California) is a former talent agent and Hollywood powerhouse who served as the head of the Creative Artists Agency ( CAA) is an entertainment and sports agency which represents a vast array of actors musicians writers directors and athletes as well as a variety Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE (ˈpwɑːtie born February 20, 1927) is an Oscar - Golden Globe - BAFTA - and Grammy Hilton Hotels Corporation, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, is a global hospitality company Stephen F Bollenbach (born July 14th 1942 is the nonexecutive chairman of Los Angeles based KB Homes. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives For other persons with a similar name see George Mitchell. George John Mitchell, GBE (born August 20, 1933 The Yale School of Architecture is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University. Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A M Stern, (born May 23 1939) is an American Architect and Dean of the Raymond L Watson was Chairman of Walt Disney Productions from 1983-1984 and served on the Disney Board from 1972 until March of 2004 Esmond Cardon Walker ( January 9 1916 – November 28, 2005) commonly known as E Ovitz lasted only 14 months and left Disney in December 1996 via a "no fault termination" with a severance package of $38 million in cash and 3 million stock options worth roughly $100 million at the time of Ovitz's departure. A severance package is pay and benefits an employee receives when they leave employment at a company Options are financial instruments that convey the right but not the obligation to engage in a future transaction on some Underlying security, or in a Futures The Ovitz episode engendered a long-running derivative suit, which finally concluded in June 2006, almost ten years after it began. A shareholder derivative suit is a lawsuit instigated by a Shareholder of a corporation not on the shareholder's own behalf but on behalf of the Corporation. Chancellor William B. Chandler, III of the Delaware Court of Chancery, despite describing Eisner's behavior as falling "far short of what shareholders expect and demand from those entrusted with a fiduciary position,. The Delaware Court of Chancery is a Court of equity in the American state of Delaware. fiduciary duty is a legal relationship of confidence or trust between two or more parties most commonly a fiduciary or Trustee and a principal . . " found in favor of Eisner and the rest of the Disney board because they hadn't violated the letter of the law (namely, the duty of care owed by a corporation's officers and board to its shareholders). In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a reasonable Standard of care while performing any acts [2]
The Save Disney War and Eisner's ouster
In 2003, Roy E. Disney, the son of Disney co-founder Roy O. Disney, resigned from his positions as Disney vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation, accusing Eisner of micromanagement, failures with the ABC television network, timidity in the theme park business, turning the Walt Disney Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, and refusing to establish a clear succession plan, as well as a string of box-office movie failures starting in the year 2000. Roy Edward Disney KCSG (born January 10, 1930) was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company, which his father Roy Oliver Roy Oliver Disney ( June 24, 1893 &ndash December 20, 1971) was with his younger brother Walt Disney, co-founder of what is now Walt Disney Animation Studios (as Walt Disney Feature Animation is a key element of The Walt Disney Company, and the oldest existing Animation studio in the world In Business Management, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of his or her subordinates or employees Theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other Entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group
On March 3, 2004, at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting, a surprising and unprecedented 43% of Disney's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, withheld their proxies to re-elect Eisner to the board. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Stanley P Gold is the President and CEO of Shamrock Holdings, which manages Roy E Proxy voting and delegated voting are procedures for the Delegation to another member of a Voting body of that member's power to vote in his absence Disney's board strip then gave the chairmanship position to Mitchell. However, the board did not immediately remove Eisner as chief executive.
On March 13, 2005, Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired. Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. On September 30 Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors, and, severing all formal ties with the company, he waived his contractual rights to perks such as the use of a corporate jet and an office at the company's Burbank headquarters. Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the Eisner's replacement was his longtime lieutenant, Bob Iger. Robert A "Bob" Iger (born February 10 1951) is the head of The Walt Disney Company.
Post-Disney
On October 7, 2005, Eisner hosted The Charlie Rose Show, filling in for Rose. Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Charlie Rose is an American television interview show with Charlie Rose as executive producer executive editor and host His guests were John Travolta and his ex-boss, Barry Diller[3]. Barry Diller (born 2 February 1942 is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Impressed with Eisner's performance, CNBC President Mark Hoffman hired Eisner in early 2006 to host his own talk show, Conversations with Michael Eisner. CNBC (an abbreviation for the " C onsumer N ews and B usiness C hannel" its official name until 1991 is a cable and Conversations with Michael Eisner is a one hour Talk show that runs once a month on CNBC. The show mostly features CEOs, political leaders, artists and actors. Eisner is also an executive producer of the show. [4]
Eisner has recently invested in an Internet video distribution network named Veoh Networks. Veoh is a San Diego California -based company which runs an Internet Television service allowing users to find and watch major studio content independent productions [5]
In March 2007, Eisner's investment firm, The Tornante Company, launched a studio, Vuguru, that will produce and distribute videos for the Internet, portable media devices and cell phones. The Tornante Company is a privately held investment firm founded by former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner in 2005. Vuguru is a Video production company founded by Tornante (headed by Michael Eisner) in March 2007. "The entire concept here is content is king," Eisner said in an interview. "What will drive traffic is interest in the subject matter. " [6] Through these companies Eisner has acquired the rights to the internet series SamHas7Friends. SamHas7Friends was a 2006 internet-based serial drama made by the production company Big Fantastic. The first series produced by Vuguru is Prom Queen, created by Big Fantastic (the same team behind SamHas7Friends), which launched on April 1, 2007. Prom Queen is the first internet video series produced by former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner 's new production company Vuguru and the returning internet Big Fantastic LLC is a Production company located in Santa Monica California which creates develops and produces online video entertainment SamHas7Friends was a 2006 internet-based serial drama made by the production company Big Fantastic. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The second series produced by Eisner and Vuguru is The All-For-Nots (theallfornots. com), created by Thom Woodley and Kathleen Grace of The Burg (theburg. tv). It premiered March 11, 2008 at SXSW.
Eisner, through Tornante, took over Topps Co. For the meat company see Topps Meat Company. The Topps Company Inc , the well-known bubble-gum and collectibles firm in October 2007.
The College of Education at California State University Northridge is named in his honor. California State University Northridge (also known as CSUN, Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the San Fernando Valley, within the city limits
Books
- Work In Progress (1998) (ISBN 0-375-50071-5)
- Camp (2005) (ISBN 978-0446533690)
Personal life
- He has three sons named Breck, Eric, and Anders Eisner. Breck Eisner (born 1970 is the son of former Walt Disney Company chief executive Michael Eisner. Eric Eisner is the son of Disney magnate Michael Eisner and a producer.
- In 1994, he underwent a quadruple bypass surgery. [7]
References
- ^ Sigmund Eisner obituary, NY Times, Jan. 6, 1925
- ^ In re The Walt Disney Company Derivative Litigation, 907 A. 2d 693 (Del. Ch. August 9, 2005).
- ^ "The Charlie Rose Show" Episode dated 7 October 2005 (2005)
- ^ USATODAY.com - Eisner to try his hand as talk show host
- ^ Online videos: From home videos to premium internet television content | Veoh Video Network
- ^ Michael Eisner Launches Internet Video Studio
- ^ Michael Eisner (I) - Biography
Quotes
- "I always went into an area that was in last place, with a philosophy, 'You can't fall off the floor. ' And I was lucky, was at the right time and the right place, with the right ideas, and each one of these areas became number one. "
- "You can't succeed unless you've got failure, especially creatively. "
Further reading
- Disney War by James B. Stewart (ISBN 0684809931)
External links
- Official site MichaelEisner.com
- Michael Eisner at the Internet Movie Database
- CNBC show official site with videos and transcripts Conversations with Michael Eisner
- Eisner Foundation
- Michael Eisner's Interview on Plum
| Preceded by Raymond Watson |
Disney Chairman 1984–2004 |
Succeeded by George J. Mitchell |
| Preceded by Ron W. Miller |
Disney CEOs 1984–2005 |
Succeeded by Robert Iger |
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