Who do you wish to see take over control of the Magic Kingdom from Michael Eisner ?
BOB IGER, president and chief operating officer of the Walt Disney Company and a television industry veteran.
Mel Karmazin, the former chief operating officer at Viacom, who began his career in radio, wants to head an entertainment conglomerate. Options are limited because many of the top jobs at companies such as Time Warner and The News Corporation, parent company of The Times, are taken. But he is seen as the top external contender for Mr Eisner’s job.
Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay and former Disney executive, is respected on Wall Street and while she is said to enjoy heading the internet auction company, she could be tempted by an offer to lead one of the world’s largest media companies. Her experience of the internet and knowledge of consumer tastes would be an asset.
Steve Burke, 44, spent 12 years at Disney, where he ran the ABC network, launched the Disney stores and revived Euro Disney after its poor start. He fell out with Mr Eisner in 1998 and moved to Comcast, which made a failed $62 billion bid for Disney this year. At Comcast he controls the cable business, which has trebled its subscribers to 21 million since he joined.
Jeff Bewkes, veteran Time Warner executive and head of the networks and entertainment group, is considered to be the likely heir to Richard Parsons, the chief executive. But Mr Parsons shows no signs of heading for the exit and it is thought that Mr Bewkes could be lured from New York to Burbank, California, where Disney is based.
BOB IGER, president and chief operating officer of the Walt Disney Company and a television industry veteran.
Mel Karmazin, the former chief operating officer at Viacom, who began his career in radio, wants to head an entertainment conglomerate. Options are limited because many of the top jobs at companies such as Time Warner and The News Corporation, parent company of The Times, are taken. But he is seen as the top external contender for Mr Eisner’s job.
Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay and former Disney executive, is respected on Wall Street and while she is said to enjoy heading the internet auction company, she could be tempted by an offer to lead one of the world’s largest media companies. Her experience of the internet and knowledge of consumer tastes would be an asset.
Steve Burke, 44, spent 12 years at Disney, where he ran the ABC network, launched the Disney stores and revived Euro Disney after its poor start. He fell out with Mr Eisner in 1998 and moved to Comcast, which made a failed $62 billion bid for Disney this year. At Comcast he controls the cable business, which has trebled its subscribers to 21 million since he joined.
Jeff Bewkes, veteran Time Warner executive and head of the networks and entertainment group, is considered to be the likely heir to Richard Parsons, the chief executive. But Mr Parsons shows no signs of heading for the exit and it is thought that Mr Bewkes could be lured from New York to Burbank, California, where Disney is based.
