NY TIMES
LAURA M. HOLSON
Published: May 10, 2004
From Walt Disney's Chief, a Reflective Letter Full of Regret
Thanks to the continued unsealing of documents in a shareholder lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company in Delaware, one of the biggest regrets of Michael D. Eisner's tenure as the company's chief executive keeps resurfacing: his hiring of the Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz nearly 10 years ago.
In the latest batch of documents in the lawsuit, related to the firing of Mr. Ovitz and the hefty severance package he received, Mr. Eisner's family ties are on display.
As the correspondence from Mr. Eisner shows, he brought in Mr. Ovitz in part to appease his wife, Jane, and turned to other family members as well for counsel about the business.
But he did not always listen to their advice, much to his chagrin later.
In a letter dated Oct. 1, 1996, written to then directors Irwin Russell and Ray Watson, Mr. Eisner explained how a number of factors overrode his doubts about Mr. Eisner.
"Maybe I suspected it the time, but my desire to bring in a strong No. 2 executive, my desire to satisfy my wife's honest request that I get help, my desire to appear not threatened by strong executives, my desire to seek experienced help to run ABC, and my desire to do what was right for Disney, all clouded my basic instinct that I was making a mistake."
The only people, it appears, who lobbied against the hiring of Mr. Ovitz were some close family members.
"In my heart I was worried, but I hoped it would work," Mr. Eisner wrote, "and I hoped he would change from agent to executive, manipulator to leader, deviation to decision maker, selfish to selfless, devious to determined to stay the moral road, insecure to confident. It has not happened. And the only people that told me so up front was my sister and son Eric." LAURA M. HOLSON
LAURA M. HOLSON
Published: May 10, 2004
From Walt Disney's Chief, a Reflective Letter Full of Regret
Thanks to the continued unsealing of documents in a shareholder lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company in Delaware, one of the biggest regrets of Michael D. Eisner's tenure as the company's chief executive keeps resurfacing: his hiring of the Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz nearly 10 years ago.
In the latest batch of documents in the lawsuit, related to the firing of Mr. Ovitz and the hefty severance package he received, Mr. Eisner's family ties are on display.
As the correspondence from Mr. Eisner shows, he brought in Mr. Ovitz in part to appease his wife, Jane, and turned to other family members as well for counsel about the business.
But he did not always listen to their advice, much to his chagrin later.
In a letter dated Oct. 1, 1996, written to then directors Irwin Russell and Ray Watson, Mr. Eisner explained how a number of factors overrode his doubts about Mr. Eisner.
"Maybe I suspected it the time, but my desire to bring in a strong No. 2 executive, my desire to satisfy my wife's honest request that I get help, my desire to appear not threatened by strong executives, my desire to seek experienced help to run ABC, and my desire to do what was right for Disney, all clouded my basic instinct that I was making a mistake."
The only people, it appears, who lobbied against the hiring of Mr. Ovitz were some close family members.
"In my heart I was worried, but I hoped it would work," Mr. Eisner wrote, "and I hoped he would change from agent to executive, manipulator to leader, deviation to decision maker, selfish to selfless, devious to determined to stay the moral road, insecure to confident. It has not happened. And the only people that told me so up front was my sister and son Eric." LAURA M. HOLSON
