Michael Eisner

Bill Gates, President of Microsoft, recently wrote that he thought he had the best job in the world. However, how many of us would rather peddle software and fight with government regulations all the time, or test the new Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land time and time again, making sure the sound effects and wall of rats work just right? Either debate Jim Manzi of Lotus in an editorial face-off, or choose an architectural design for an enormous new resort hotel to be made from logs? What about this one: present software awards at the Comdex convention in Atlanta, or socialize with the cast at the opening of your new Broadway hit, based on characters you helped create? Unless you were the kid, who growing up dreaded the weekends because there was no math class, Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney wins the title of best job in the world.(1)

Perhaps another way of putting it is that by completely reviving the Walt Disney Co. Since he took charge in 1984, Michael Eisner has made his job into the best in the world. Unlike many Hollywood executives, Eisner is not nouveau riche, is not from Brooklyn or the Bronx, and really does not seem to be driven by the same thing as a lot of his peers.(1)

Eisner was raised on Manhattan's Park Avenue. His father, Lester Eisner Jr., was a prominent New York lawyer. His grandfather, J. Lester Eisner, was in the rag trade and owned a successful business which manufactured uniforms for the Boy Scouts and the U.S. Army. His other grandfather, Milton Dammann, was CEO of American Safety Razor Co.(2) Michael was prepped at Lawrenceville School, a very expensive New York boarding school. Eisner was a good student, who tried and largely failed at sports, trying and having little success on the junior varsity tennis and basketball teams. He had fleeting success as an actor. Eisner was a member of the Periwig Theatric Club, and in his senior year he won the lead role in "The Canine Mutiny." Two weeks before the show, Michael developed a case of spinal meningitis and never made the opening curtain. Although he recovered from the disease, he never won another action part.(3)

Eisner discovered America, and himself when he went off to Denison University, a small liberal arts school just outside of Columbus, Ohio. He enrolled as a pre-medical student, but quickly moved to become an English major after only one semester. By his junior year, he was hit with the theater bug again, being influenced by an attractive coed who was a theater major. Having enough of acting, Eisner began to write and produce plays. His plays had mixed reviews throughout school, and he continued to write plays after graduation, but decided to look for a career job.(3)

Eisner used his family connections to get his first job in show business as a user at NBC in 1963. After a few short months, he was promoted to the clerk in charge of keeping track of the number of times commercials aired. On weekends, he worked for the NBC radio station, giving out traffic reports. After his move from NBC to CBS in 1965, Eisner was in charge of inserting commercials into their proper slots for programs such as the Ed Sullivan Show, and Jeopardy.(3)

Eisner's big break in show business came in 1966, when a young television executive named Barry Diller read one of more than 200 resumes Eisner had sent out. At the time, Diller was a 24-year-old Vice-President at ABC, then a diminutive network. Launched a decade earlier by former Paramount attorney Leonard Goldenson, ABC was a distant third among television's "Big Three." With only two dozen stations signed up as affiliates, the shows it aired covered less than 50 percent of the country.(3)

With little to lose, Diller and Eisner could be innovative with ABC's programming. Together, they created such innovations as the ABC "Movie of the Week" and the miniseries. Eisner's greatest attribute for the work was that he genuinely enjoyed even simple forms of pop programming, sitcoms, and cartoon shows. This put him at an advantage. When he was given responsibility for Saturday morning programming in 1969, Eisner did not need to guess what kids wanted. Instead, he simply looked for what he liked.(3)

At the time, Saturday morning was ruled by cartoons based on animals like Mighty Mouse and Atom Ant. However, Eisner wanted to try something different. He had heard about a singing group called the Jackson Five, so he flew to Las Vegas to hear them. Eisner quickly signed them to an ABC contract, and from that evolved a Jackson Five cartoon series. Also, a similar scenario occurred with the Osmond Brothers. Within three years, ABC had emerged as the top ranking Saturday morning schedule on television. Within five years, Eisner was put in charge of ABC's prime time schedule. There he put on shows like Happy Days and Welcome Back Kotter.(3)

By the time ABC emerged as the top-ranked network on the air in 1976, Eisner had left to join Barry Diller at Paramount Pictures, who had left two years earlier. At Paramount, the two men earned a reputation as Hollywood's most creative executives. During their eight years together, Paramount turned out an unprecedented string of box office hits such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Saturday Night Fever. In 1978, Paramount led the "Big Seven" studios with nearly one quarter of the box office, propelled by hits like Grease and Heaven Can Wait. For six years, Paramount never fell below second in market share under Eisner.(3)

In 1984, Michael Eisner was offered the position at Disney as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) which he took, and still holds today. At the time of his arrival, Disney animation division was in shambles and revenues were anemic. Together with Frank Wells, Vice-President of Disney, and Jeffery Katzenberg, head of Walt Disney Studios, Eisner transformed the company into the monster it is today.(2) Disney depended on the cyclical theme-park business for almost 80% of its operating income and on movies for only 1%. Eisner revived Disney's movies to 43% of its income from movies, and only 35%of this from its theme-parks. The old Disney brought in less than 9% of its revenues from overseas, while today it brings in 23%. The old Disney toyed in the resort business with 2,894 hotel rooms, while the new Disney offers 21,586 rooms at 21 different resorts. Disney is continuing to build more resorts and is headed into the cruise ship business under Eisner's watchful eyes.(1)

Michael Eisner, the celebrity, has more of the spotlight than any other CEO in the world. As he strolls down Disneyland's Main Street as he usually does, Eisner attracts visitors as if he were Mickey Mouse himself. They get autographs, inquire about his health, wish him well, and so on. He smiles and is gracious, but tends to seem a little awkward with this too.(1)

While being interviewed by a newspaper reporter, Eisner was asked does he identify himself with Walt Disney? "No" says Eisner. "You know, Walt Disney was Mickey Mouse. He really was. And there was a little piece of that character that was always in him, just like there was a very similar piece of Kermit in Jim Henson, or Charlie Brown in Charles Schultz. These are pieces of human beings that are very, you know affectionate, enduring, and interesting. I'm not Mickey Mouse. I'm just an executive."(1)

He is right, he is just Michael Eisner.

2. "How Eisner Saved Disney and Himself" by Michael Meyer and Stryker McGuire Newsweek August 14, 1995, Volume 126, p28-29

3. The Disney Touch by Ron Grover Copyright Date 1991, Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p26-29

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