Walt Disney Co.'s chief says the high-profile departures of Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Ovitz were actually good for the company.
In Michael Eisner's new book, "Work in Progress," he writes that Ovitz was more interested in making big deals than focusing on the company's interests. Excerpts of the book are published in the Sept. 28 issue of Newsweek.Eisner said most of the company's executives weren't happy with Ovitz, who was Disney's No. 2 executive.
"Several told me flatly that if he stayed on, they would ultimately have no choice but to leave. This was a full-blown crisis, and it was tearing the company apart," Eisner said.
Ovitz left Disney in December 1996 with a severance package worth up to $130 million. He had been with the company only 14 months.
Katzenberg, who ran Disney's studio operations, left after a dispute with Eisner following the sudden death of Disney's president, Frank Wells.
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