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"I always went into an area that was in last place, with a philosophy,
'You can't fall off the floor.' And I was lucky, was at the right time
and the right place, with the right ideas, and each one of these areas
became number one."
When Michael Eisner went to work for ABC Television in
the 1960s, ABC was in last place of the three networks. It was number
one by the time he left to take over Paramount Pictures. At that time,
Paramount was dead last of the six major motion picture studios. During
Eisner's presidency, Paramount moved to first place. The Walt Disney
studio was believed to be suffering from a a lack of direction at the
time and Michael Eisner became CEO. Today, Disney is the industry
leader.
The recently approved merger of The Walt Disney Company
with Capital Cities/ABC makes Eisner the leader of a communications and
entertainment empire without precedent. With his history of picking
companies up off the floor, one can only wonder what Michael Eisner
will do with a company that appears to be going through the roof.
Mr. Eisner was born on March 7, 1942 in Mount Kisco, NY
and currently lives with his wife, Jane. They have three children,
Michael "Breck", Eric and Anders.
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