Michael Eisner

After Walt Disney Productions, the struggling movie studio renowned for its animated feature films, survived takeover attempts by corporate raiders, shareholders Sid Bass and Roy E. Disney brought on Michael Eisner and former Warner Brothers chief Frank Wells to turn the floundering company’s fortunes around.

In the next ten years the studio became one of the world’s largest money whores. Under Michael Eisner and Wells’s leadership, Disney rebuilt its once legendary animation department, 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.” Disney also broadened its adult offerings in film with its ventures in Touchstone Pictures (created by Eisner’s predecessor, Ron W. Miller, and a noted acquisition of Miramax Films in 1994. This tremendous run culminated with a surprise announcement by Eisner of Disney’s takeover of Capital Cities/ABC – A stunning move involving the second largest corporate takeover in history up till that point, the largest in the field of media, with no leaks to the very same media which was involved in the deal. Along with ABC (the number one network at the time), Disney acquired a slew of other media sources, including ESPN.

Eisner’s role in this turnaround, and Disney’s growth into one of the leading media firms, is the subject of passionate debate by many historians and Disney fans, though he is generally given the bulk of the credit for transforming Disney into a provider of entertainment. As the years went on, Michael Eisner would gain further controversy through a rapid consolidation of authority. Wells died in a helicopter crash in 1994, ending the longstanding feud between the two men. Shortly thereafter, Eisner fired Jeffrey Katzenberg. This may have been sparked by Katzenberg’s feeling that he was owed money, which resulted in him launching a lawsuit which was ultimately settled in Katzenberg’s favor.

Eisner began his career at ABC, moving to Paramount Pictures, then to The Walt Disney Company. 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 and Shirley, Cheers and Family Ties. Eisner was close to his boss, Paramount studio chief Barry Diller, but when Diller left and Eisner was passed over for Diller’s job, he went looking for work elsewhere.

Michael Eisner is now currently the CEO of Tornante, an investment firm. Tornante recently took over Topps, the famous baseball card company. Michael Eisner also hosted the show Conversations with Michael Eisner on CNBC. Eisner got the show after he did an impressive job filling in for Charlie Rose on Rose’s popular interview show.

Additional information on Michael Eisner:

Michael Eisner recently canceled Conversations with Michael Eisner to devote more time to business ventures.

Michael Eisner’s family foundation gives $1.25 million to CalArts.

The Charlie Rose interview of Michael Eisner.