DISNEY - EISNER CREDITS SUN VALLEY CONFERENCE FOR HIS BIGGEST DEALS

EISNER CREDITS SUN VALLEY CONFERENCE FOR HIS BIGGEST DEALS

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner disclosed Wednesday that the Allen & Company Sun Valley conference of media moguls was the setting for his two biggest deals as Disney chief, the acquisition of ABC and the Family Channel. In an interview with the New York Post, Eisner recalled that in 1995 he "arranged" to bump into Warren Buffett, then Capital Cities/ABC's majority shareholder, and company CEO Tom Murphy as the two were heading toward the golf course. "It all came together because the largest shareholder of ABC and the CEO of ABC were at the conference," Eisner said. "This was a moment in time." Likewise, he indicated, he was attending a cocktail party at Sun Valley in 2001 at which Rupert Murdoch and Haim Saban, the owners of Fox Family Channel were on hand. He said that he had discussed a deal to acquire the channel previously, but Sun Valley "pushed the momentum further." These days, Eisner told the Post, media execs attending the conference are focusing on how to adapt to the digital age. "The landscape of a decade from now will be completely different," he said.

13/07/2006