Eisner attempts to scuttle Pixar deal

From the New York Post:

Michael Eisner, the famously meddlesome former boss of the Walt Disney Co., did his best to scuttle the entertainment giant's recent acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios, The Post has learned.

Eisner, who officially left Disney last fall after trying in vain to keep his seat on the board, contacted board members to lobby against approving the $7.4 billion deal — suggesting that, even after being pushed out of the company, Eisner is having a tough time letting go his grip on power.

Eisner's lobbying was for naught: the deal, which was the first coup for Eisner successor Bob Iger, was approved late last month after a two-day board meeting.

While Eisner disapproving of the deal is hardly a surprise — after all, while CEO he could have pursued a deal to buy the animation giant but instead alienated Pixar boss Steve Jobs — his open lobbying against it so soon after passing the reins to Iger is a remarkable breach of corporate decorum and served to undermine his own handpicked successor.

A spokesman for Eisner said: "We don't comment on rumor, but Mr. Iger has Mr. Eisner's complete support in sustaining the growth of Disney."

Eisner remains one of Disney's largest individual shareholders: he owns about 14.6 million shares in the company, a stake worth close to $400 million.

Since stepping down from Disney in October — about a year earlier than originally planned — Eisner has been casting about for new opportunities. His first official gig was made public last month when cable network CNBC hired him to host a talk show, an idea inspired by the stint that Eisner guest-hosted "The Charlie Rose Show" last year.

Eisner has also been making the rounds, along with Peter Murphy, the former head of strategy at Disney, trying to raise funds to start an investment firm that will finance new media ventures and Broadway plays, sources have said. Eisner felt the deal for Pixar was too expensive, sources say, while at the same time the deal illustrates one of the major shortcomings of Eisner's reign: Disney's own animation unit was left in tatters. Indeed, when making the announcement, Iger indicated that the deal was a tacit admission Disney had botched its own animation business.

He said the deal was aimed at returning "Disney animation to greatness."

Eisner never would have done such a deal, say those who know him, because he would have been unwilling to put such a large block of stock in Jobs' hands. The deal made Jobs the largest individual shareholder of Disney with a stake worth close to $3.7 billion, and gave him a seat on the board.