On Wednesday, January 12, 2000, The Walt Disney Co. announced that Joe

Roth, their movie studio chairman, was resigning to form an independent

film company. He will be replaced by studio president Peter Schneider. Roth

assumed the chairman position in August 1994 after the departure of veteran

Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. During his tenure, Roth helped Disney

lead rivals at the U.S. box office in terms of market share, with help from

such hits as THE SIXTH SENSE and TOY STORY 2. Shortly following the news of

Roth's resignation, Disney shares were off 2-10/16 at 33-11/16. Roth's

successor, Schneider, joined the company in 1985 as a vice president of

feature animation finally becoming president of Disney's feature animation

and stage play production groups. Schneider was involved in some of

Disney's biggest animated hits like THE LION KING and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST,

while also heading the development of stage plays based on those movies. In

January 1999, he was promoted to president of Walt Disney Studios. Chairman

Michael Eisner told Reuters, "The fact of the matter is Peter Schneider is

a totally proven creative executive."