Disney chooses Iger as new CEO

This file photo of Nov. 18, 2003 shows Disney president and chief operating officer Robert Iger, center, attending the launch of the Disney Channel in Japan. PHOTO: AFP

The Walt Disney Co said on Sunday its president, Robert Iger, will succeed Michael Eisner as chief executive and that Eisner will leave his post one year earlier than previously announced.

Iger, who is credited with reversing the fortunes of its ABC television network, was considered a front-runner from the start, but two prominent shareholders who helped propel Eisner's departure criticized the company for choosing an insider "by default" instead of someone who might make bigger changes.

Iger, set to be only the sixth head of Disney in the company's history, is taking over an entertainment giant whose profits have begun to rebound after several rocky years.

Disney board chairman George Mitchell said Iger's choice came after a "lengthy, thorough and professional selection process" that included serious consideration of outside candidates.

He declined to be more specific, but an eBay Inc spokesman confirmed on Sunday that eBay CEO Meg Whitman had withdrawn her application for the job on Friday after being interviewed.

"We believe Bob Iger represents the right blend of continuity, of very successful performance ... and a recognition of needed change" in the areas of new technology and expanding the company's business in Asia, Mitchell said.

The company said Iger was unanimously elected by the board at a meeting on Saturday and will take charge on Oct. 1, the start of Disney's 2006 fiscal year.

Eisner, leader of the media and theme park company for 21 years, will step down the day before. He will remain on the board for another year, and Disney will pay him through Sept. 30 next year, when his contract expires.

Former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold alleged in a statement on Sunday that Eisner inappropriately participated in candidate interviews. The two also alleged that some external candidates declined to be interviewed because of Eisner's role.

"We find it incomprehensible that the board of directors of Disney failed to find a single external candidate interested in the job and thus handed Bob Iger the job by default," the two men said.

"The need for the Walt Disney Company to have a clean break from the prior regime and to change the leadership culture has been glaringly obvious to everyone except this board," they said.

Mitchell strongly denied the allegations, saying Eisner was never present during any interviews with Iger and attended only part of one meeting with an unidentified candidate.

"That was the full extent of his interaction with any candidates, internal or external," Mitchell said on Sunday. "The allegation is false and irresponsible."

Iger, a board member, did not participate in any succession planning meetings, Mitchell said.

Iger, 54, who also serves as chief operating officer, was president of Capital Cities/ABC when Disney bought the company in 1995, and went on to become president of the ABC Group and head of Walt Disney International. He was named president in 2000.

He has recently been vocal about his vision for Disney.