On the eve of his exit, outgoing Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner took center stage at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel and reflected on his fortuitous timing.
Speaking to an audience of entertainment executives Tuesday, Eisner noted that the company's once-suffering ABC television network had launched the fall season at the top of the heap for the first time in a decade. ABC was No. 1 among viewers 18 to 49 years old, the audience most coveted by advertisers.
The network's strong showing came "just in the nick of time," Eisner said. "Next week, I couldn't take credit for it."
On Friday, Eisner, 63, will step down as head of the company he has led for 21 years, formally giving over the reins to his handpicked successor, Disney President Robert Iger.
While attending functions such as the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland and promoting his book "Camp," Eisner has kept a low profile in recent months, surprising critics who suspected he'd have trouble wrenching himself from a company in which he had vested so much of his identity and stirred up so much controversy.
Indeed, the mere prospect of Eisner's remaining at Disney in some capacity became a central issue during the search for a successor. Eisner's critics in and out of the company believed that if he was to remain in a position of power he might undercut his replacement.
His exact role with Disney in the future remains unclear. Publicly, Eisner has said only that he expects to remain in the entertainment field. Behind the scenes, however, he is seeking continuing ties to the company.
Those could include a consulting deal and the use of such perks as the corporate jet and an office with an assistant.
Eisner had considered moving into the vacant office of Roy E. Disney, a former dissident director who quit in a dispute with the CEO and later led a shareholder revolt that resulted in Eisner being stripped of his chairmanship title.
That office had once been occupied by Roy's uncle, Walt, as well as by Eisner himself.
Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha acknowledged that Eisner had considered keeping an office on the company's Burbank lot but chose not to do so. She would not say where an office might be found for the ex-CEO.
Disney board members are expected to finalize the terms of his ongoing relationship next month. But this much already is clear: Eisner will remain one of the largest individual shareholders of the company, holding approximately 14 million shares, valued at $327 million based on Tuesday's closing price of $23.36.
