[johnq]

Disney board to meet; may pick Eisner successor September 20, 2004 10:57:00 (ET) LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) - Picking a successor for Chief Executive Michael Eisner is expected to be on the agenda Monday as the Walt Disney Co. board is scheduled to meet. Eisner said earlier this month he would resign his post once his contract expires in 2006. That has left many in and around the entertainment company wondering what the executive suite will look like-and whether Eisner will actually leave Disney ...clip... Gold and Disney want the board to make an independent selection. Among the names circulated as an outside candidate are Yahoo (YHOO, Trade) Chief Executive Terry Semel, Pixar (PIXR, Trade) and Apple (AAPL, Trade) head Steve Jobs, and News Corp. (NWS, Trade) President Peter Chernin. (From: http://CBS.MarketWatch.com)

I would think that Jobs is supremely in line for this post. He could do to Pixar what he did for his NeXT company and OS, become CEO and have the "new" company buy "his" company. Disney would certainly win by having Pixar in-house, Pixar would have a universe of traditional Disney things to play with plus their own stuff. Plus the likely benefit to Apple if he can swoon the production onto more Macs. What better thing to bring about the Apple iVideoStore than having a partnership with Disney to kick it off? H.264 etc...

Pipe dream? Or tomorrow's headlines?

[Messiahtosh]

I'll say there's a high probability of it happening.

[psmith2.0]

Nah. The poor guys's stretched pretty thin, running two major, field-leading companies. I'd imagine running Disney would be a full-time, massive gig (no screwing around or half-assing it there!), so I say "no".

He might get asked, but I don't think HE'D be interested.

But the possibilities for jokes involving the letter "i" and various Disney characters sure is tempting!

[Mac+]

Not sure, but damn - this does sound interesting. The possibilities, as you state them johnq, have potential!

If it does happen, is it highly unlikely that Eisner will stay on - don't he and Steve not "get along" or something like that.

[Mac+]

^ ooooh ... my 666 post.

[johnq]

Point is, if he can head Pixar and Apple without blowing a pancreas (ok, he got a flat but he has a good pit crew), he can likely head a Disney and Apple, with Pixar being consumed into the Rodent Organism.

He likely tells 5 people what to do all day and that wouldn't need to change if the companies are bigger. The underlings can just bust ass that much more.

Only downside:

Macs = Mickey Mouse

...but we're tough enough for that right?

[psmith2.0]

I apologize in advance for the following. I held out as long as I could, but I just couldn't help myself!



It could happen...

[johnq]

(love it!)

I can see it now. Donald can be the flustered, spitting, ranting PC user being attacked by popups and Mickey can swoop in with an army of walking iMac G5s Fantasia style and save Donald from drowning in PC viruses.

Mock THAT up

[applenut]

Originally Posted by johnq Point is, if he can head Pixar and Apple without blowing a pancreas (ok, he got a flat but he has a good pit crew), he can likely head a Disney and Apple, with Pixar being consumed into the Rodent Organism. He likely tells 5 people what to do all day and that wouldn't need to change if the companies are bigger. The underlings can just bust ass that much more. Only downside: Macs = Mickey Mouse ...but we're tough enough for that right?

that is totally wrong. Disney is not Pixar. At Pixar, Jobs stops by once a week and sees what is going on and for the most part is just there as a figurehead and a safety overlooker of the big picture. If he were to take the Disney position it would be totally different. Disney is huge, and complicated and the CEO position is one that is under extreme scrutiny and stress. Shareholders would demand him to take the Disney position and only the disney position.

Would Jobs leave Apple? Maybe. Now? No.
Would Jobs love to be CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world? Hell yes.

It'll be interesting.

[Mac+]

pscates - loved the mock-ups.

[kscherer]

Does this mean there will be an iPod day at Disney Land? Or maybe ( ) Mac Users Only Day?

[Messiahtosh]

I think if he does, he'd swing some massive deal where Disney would buy Pixar or Pixar would be a subsidy of Disney. In essence he'd still be the CEO of 2 companies.

[sunrain]

I don't see it happening. Taking the job at Disney would be more work than all of his current responsibilities. There's no way he could stay on. I don't think he's ready to set Apple off on its own either. Pixar would be fine, but he's got too fresh a memory from the last time Apple was without him.

[onlyafterdark]

I dont think it is going to happen either, he is better off staying away from Disney. Pixar is where the future of cartoons are going and being CEO of two companies has got to be tough enough without adding another CEO job of a company that needs some serious fixing to the mix.

[BuonRotto]

I doubt Jobs is too interested in al the various facets under the Disney umbrella, and I think he has a very clear idea of what he wants out of Pixar and Apple. Nobody bothers him there, and the idea of meddling shareholders and board would probably deter him. I think Jobs has the idea that he's a specialist at building companies up, that's how he sees not only Pixar but Apple too, not as a turnaround story, but as a continuation of what he built up in the first place. I'm not sure Jobs is that interested in steering aircraft carriers, that is, if he didn't set it out to sea in the first place.

[johnq]

True, he does like controlling his own projects.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by johnq I can see it now. Donald can be the flustered, spitting, ranting PC user being attacked by popups and Mickey can swoop in with an army of walking iMac G5s Fantasia style and save Donald from drowning in PC viruses. Mock THAT up

Aye! I'm working as fast as I can...

[johnq]

LOL, ok in SILHOUETTE if that helps!