Disneywar

I’m reading “Disneywar” by James Stewart. Of course in accordance with trying to buy myself new bookshelf space, it is one of the thickest books I have, on really thick paper, it’s a 600 page book thicker than some 900 page books I have. (There will be people who will naturally ask: why not buy a new bookshelf. That is the last thing I want. I have enough books at home as it is.) And it reads very easily. I don’t know why I bought it even though I had read a biography of Michael Eisner before but I’m really keen to finish it and sell it off so as to free up space.

It’s very entertaining, though. You read about all the crazy things that take place in Disney:

How Eisner and his number 2, Frank Wells, formed a great partnership which brought a lot of success to Disney in the early years.
How Eisner refused to promote his number 3 to the number 2 position after the number 2 died in a helicopter accident, and refused to pay him his bonus. Eventually the number 3 filed a suit and got more than his bonus. Later on, the number 3, Jeffrey Katzenberg left to form Dreamworks SKG with Spielberg and Geffen.
How Eisner roped in his then best friend, Michael Ovitz to be his number 2. Ovitz was then the most successful agent in Hollywood. Later on, he couldn’t manage the inevitable power struggles with the other people who felt themselves more entitled to the number 2 position, and basically was a lame duck for most of his 1.5 years at the company. He had to leave, his career was ruined, even though he received a $140 million severance paycheck.
Eisner had roped in Ovitz on impulse because Ovitz stayed at his side when he was going through heart surgery. Eisner had just lost his number 2 and number 3, and his wife wanted him to install a number 2 so that he didn’t have to manage everything himself. But after Ovitz’s firing, he didn’t appoint a president for a few more years.
How his playing his subordinates against each other ruined the unity of the company.
How, in order to “cut costs”, his subordinates felt compelled to sell away the domestic and foreign rights to the “Sixth Sense”, which was one of the biggest grossing films of all time.
How, because of the politics around the company, they fired the executive who wanted to make “Survivor” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. They managed to hang on to the latter, but they lost “Survivor”.
How they fired the executives who championed “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives”.
How, because Eisner and Steve Jobs couldn’t get along, Eisner actually wanted to sell off Pixar.
How Roy Disney was always called Walt Disney’s “idiot nephew”, when he was the one who brought in Eisner in the first place. Later on, Eisner wanted to get rid of Roy Disney by invoking the mandatory retirement requirement for directors. Roy Disney managed to initiate a shareholder revolt in which 45% of the shareholders withheld their support of the CEO. This was the record highest percentage for a CEO of a major company.

Great entertaining reads.