Most people have long believed that Barry Diller would oversee Universal Entertainment, which consisted of Universal Studios (movies and television) and the Universal theme parks. Well, they were right. Sort of. Universal Entertainment is apparently no more, and is being replaced by Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which will combine those branches with the highly successful Universal Music Group and Universal Interactive Entertainment wings. This puts Diller in control of everything he claimed he didn't want to be in control of. And he was so convincing. Not.
Analysts believe grouping these companies together is just a prelude to a public offering, since selling any portion of VUE wouldn't be allowed to reduce Vivendi's debt, but would have to be funneled back into VUE. Still, VUE itself has only $1.6 billion in debts and VU could find a way to transfer some of its staggering debt over to VUE. So the theme parks may still go down that licensing route.
JUST CHANGE YOUR TITLE TO KING AND BE DONE WITH IT
Orlando Sentinel - Nov 14
Remember all the hoopla over the Disney board wanting certain things from Michael Eisner? Like naming a successor? Well, Eisner has refused to do so. Claiming that a successor now would make him a "lame duck," Eisner said that a successor is only named when his predecessor is leaving in six or seven months, not - prepare for the most frightening phrase you have ever read - "three years out." THREE YEARS? The new scarier effects in the Tower of Terror should contain THAT threat!
SIT RIGHT BACK AND YOU'LL HEAR A TALE... UNFORTUNATELY IN FRENCH
NY Times - Nov 14
Ex-head of Vivendi Universal, Jean-Marie Messier has published an autobiography revolving around his tenure at the conglomerate. Messier seems to have an interesting story to tell, but he may louse that up by quoting people without proof of such quotes. I guess this just proves that not every French businessman lacks imagination.
Be specific! Name a name!
Eisner's responsibilities are not limited to running 9 major theme parks, He also oversees ABC and a handful of cable networks. He oversees a major motion picture studio. He operates dozens hotel resorts, cruise ships and food and beverage operations. He also oversees WDI -- a multi-million (or is it billion) dollar construction and design operation.
Before they demand his ouster, Eisner's enemies should demonstrate that they have a modicum of intelligence and identify the executive who has demonstrated that he has the capability and qualifications to run the Walt Disney Company.
Be specific. Name a name!
A simple indictment of Michael Eisner’s failure as a CEO at Disney is the fact that nobody within the Disney organization has been groomed to be his successor. One of the primary responsibilities of a CEO is to create a corporate culture where excellence is rewarded and leadership is cherished. Look at how many CEOs and COOs of Fortune 500 companies Jack Welch developed at GE. How many have come out of Disney? Pressler and Katzenberg? Pressler lucked out with the leadership position at the Gap when he was about to be made the scapegoat for the mess he and others made of the parks. Despite our oft and well-earned criticism of Pressler, the man has a talent for retail organizations. Too bad it didn’t extend to creative enterprises like the entertainment industry. Katzenberg left and started Dreamworks because he saw the writing on the wall. Eisner wasn’t going to have anybody in the organization who was going to eclipse his star.
Look at the current situation at Disney. The merger with ABC has been a disaster. Instead of getting synergy, they got calamity, and it appears that the best thing to do would be to sell off ABC so the separate companies can regain their individual identities and their creative focus. Do you really think the stockholders are going to be happy when ABC is split off at a fraction of the price that it cost to acquire it? No way! Eisner has also hacked off most of the important players in the entertainment industry. After the ham-fisted way he’s treated Pixar as well as many other suppliers and partners, organizations are reluctant to do business with Disney unless they are the size of McDonalds.
Who would want to step into this morass? The shining stars who understand the entertainment industry like Diller and Katzenberg have their own empires to manage and there’s no real benefit to taking over Disney. The internal stars in the organization keep their ideas to themselves and their heads down so they don’t get the Katzenberg treatment.
No, the successor to Eisner will come out of the mid-level management at Disney or some other entertainment company, because it is going to take a lot of energy, drive, and determination to turn Disney around. Anybody who already has achieved a certain level of success is probably going to turn the job down because the prospect of failure is too great.
So, your request for us to name names is frivolous. The question should be: Given his qualifications, would you hire Michael Eisner to head Disney in its current situation? If the answer is no, then the first thing you have to do is get rid of Eisner. Naming his replacement is the second part of the equation, and yes, there are people out there who are qualified to run Disney.
There’s a Chinese proverb that says that ‘The teacher will appear when the student is ready.’ Maybe we should develop one for Disney that says that ‘The successor will appear when Eisner is gone.’
Bill Clinton.
Obvious organizational skills. Knows, and is respected by, every major world leader. Demonstrated ability to raise money, even in a difficult economy. Beloved in the entertainment industry. Lived through the Arkansas Project, so he's got no fear. And the prestige of being run by a former U.S. President would provide a huge boost to Disney's image, and stock price.
Other candidates mentioned, as I recall, included John Lassiter, Steven Jobs, Sherry Lansing, Barry Diller and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
So it's not like Disney couldn't find plenty of qualified candidates.
But the biggest problem with that post is this part: "Eisner's responsibilities are not limited to running 9 major theme parks, He also oversees ABC and a handful of cable networks. He oversees a major motion picture studio. He operates dozens hotel resorts, cruise ships and food and beverage operations. He also oversees WDI -- a multi-million (or is it billion) dollar construction and design operation."
He doesn't run ANY of these. He is the boss of the people who actually DO run these portions of the Disney Empire. And those people get fired on a regular basis for not performing well in their assigned duties. And whose job is it to fire those people? And whose job is it to hire COMPETENT REPLACEMENTS?
But the biggest problem with Eisner isn't that he merely oversees these companies, but micromanages ALL of them. He rarely allows the presidents of each company to make adequate decisions because he is always putting some sort of limitations on them. And those limitations usually involve money. Far too LITTLE money for a lot of it.
It seems to me that Eisner is more interested in the power than in the quality of his company. Bring in a new king, whoever he or she may be!
Now, Al Gore's out of the presidential race, there's another candidate for Eisner's job.
And there's always me of course...
