#44 – Michael Eisner
Net Worth: $615 million -21%
Last Year: $780 million
Age: 67
Residence: Los Angeles
Source of Wealth: Stock options, grants
The Money:
Eisner? net worth tumbled largely because of 43 percent drop in
Disney stock price. Eisner owns about 14 million shares of the Mouse House, making him third largest individual shareholder. Eisner? venture capital firm Tornante Co. has ownership stake in online video site Veoh, production company Vuguru and trading card company Topps Co. Has yet to cash out significantly from any.
Buzz:
Former Disney executive got some notice this year when he developed animated kids series ?lenn Martin DDS?for longtime Disney rival Nickelodeon. When Eisner pitched show to a roomful of media buyers in New York, he noted the irony of his defection, calling Nickelodeon ? once-distant rival that is now in (Disney?) face.?Eisner remains heavily involved in Tornante? holdings, and even quit a CNBC talk show he hosted to focus on them. Latest venture: new Topps baseball cards that display 3-D player images on a computer screen when captured by a Web cam. But Eisner? two Web ventures haven? escaped downturn; Veoh remains a top five online video site but recently laid off 25 employees and replaced chief executive. Meanwhile, local non-profit Eisner Foundation gave $1.25 million to a program at the California Institute for the Arts that sends faculty and students into neighborhood schools to teach music, dance and theater.
