Disney In Transition: What Will Eisner Do?
Just two days away from officially stepping down as CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner is seeking a new, reduced role within the company, and, more importantly, an office in which to spend time wistfully staring out the window while listening to the hypnotic clack-clack of his favorite desk toy, remembering the good old days. From the LAT:
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. [...]
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.
If new CEO Bob Iger can't find a place to harmlessly stash his predecessor (i.e., he can't find a good excuse to fire the guy who runs the churro cart outside the Haunted Mansion), Eisner will have to accept the fate of all retired Disney Supreme Leaders: being cryogenically frozen while awaiting eventual installation in the Epcot Center's planned Hall Of Executives exhibit.
