DreamWorks Dilutes CEO Power

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Struggling DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. on Monday redrew the lines of authority for its top executives, giving Chairman Roger Enrico more authority and diluting the power of Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who helped found DreamWorks in 1994.


The Glendale-based animation unit, which was spun off from DreamWorks SKG last year, has suffered declines in stock price amid disappointing returns for the DVD of “Shrek 2” and the recent theatrical release “Madagascar.” The company’s shares have fallen 17 percent since the company’s initial public offering in October 2004.


DreamWorks said in a regulatory filing Monday that Chief Financial Officer Kristina Leslie and General Counsel Katherine Kendrick will answer to both Katzenberg and Enrico, who was appointed chairman last October. Previously, Leslie and Kandrick reported to Katzenberg and Chief Operating Officer Ann Daly, whose responsibilities are being shifted.


DreamWorks said Daly would have more direct responsibilities over the creative side of the company.


“Ann Daly is one of the best executives in the entertainment industry,” Katzenberg said in a statement released by a DreamWorks spokesman. “Freeing her up to devote 100 percent of her time to oversee the production of our movies, run the studio and, in particular, oversee the most important revenue source of our business, home video, makes a world of sense and will help us better manage the growth of the company.”


Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware’s corporate governance center, said the changes effectively diminish the authority of Katzenberg since second-tier executives typically report to the CEO alone rather than both the CEO and chairman. But DreamWorks spokesman Bob Feldman disputed that characterization as “absurd. “They still report to Jeffrey as well as Roger,” said Feldman.

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