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At times—most of the time, in fact—Michael Eisner was painted as the Prince Charming who swept in to save a languishing Disney after he was anointed chairman and C.E.O. of the company in 1984. In his more than 20 years at the helm, Eisner revived its theme-park business, oversaw tremendously successful animated films, and added the kind of shareholder value that only seems to come from a Disney kind of magic. (Eisner is fond of saying that all that magic put many kids through college.)
But at times, Eisner was also painted as a Disney villain. He famously clashed with Jeffrey Katzenberg, who angled for the second-in-command spot after the tragic death of Eisner’s beloved lieutenant, Frank Wells, who died in a helicopter crash. Eisner overlooked Katzenberg for the number-two spot, folding Wells’s responsibilities into his own. A furious Katzenberg left to form a formidable rival in DreamWorks, along with partners Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, and settled a lawsuit that ended up costing Disney more than $250 million—a sum so great that many cite it as one of the reasons the shareholders revolted, leading to a board coup years later that ousted Eisner as chairman in 2004 and as chief executive in 2005. Eisner also tussled with the guy he hired for the job, Mike Ovitz, who lasted 14 months and left with a golden parachute valued at nearly $140 million. Eisner clashed, too, with Steve Jobs, in his role as the head of Pixar. The final straw in their distribution deal broke over—what else—Finding Nemo. Eisner told his board not to expect too much from the Pixar film, concluding that its release would serve as a “reality check” for Jobs and his crew. The movie ended up grossing nearly $350 million.
Eisner’s second act—quietly building Tornante, a media company that invests in everything from Task Rabbit to Topps trading cards to the hit Neflix series BoJack Horseman—has been relatively drama-free. For all of his experience leading the world’s most nostalgia-inducing media company, Eisner seems happy with his new media portfolio. “I’ve always been interested in the future, and relatively uninterested in the past,” he said.
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