Disney Names Vice Chairman

Walt Disney Co. named Sanford Litvack as vice chairman, giving Chairman Michael Eisner’s key adviser a bigger role at the entertainment company.

Litvack, 63, will share the title with Roy Disney. Litvack joined Disney in 1991 as general counsel and later added the role of chief of corporate operations.

Disney’s chief financial officer and chief strategic officer still will report to Eisner and Litvack, while business unit heads will report to Eisner.

The appointment comes as Eisner, under pressure from stockholders who’ve seen their shares lose about 10 percent of their value this year, tries to reverse a slide in earnings by cutting costs and slowing investments in some areas of the business.

“Sandy has been my key adviser over the past five years and has been invaluable in providing me with guidance and counsel,” Eisner said in a prepared statement. “He will continue to work with me to monitor and stimulate Disney’s performance.”

Litvack was chairman of the litigation department of the international law firm Dewey Ballantine before joining Disney. He was an assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice during the Carter administration.

(Bloomberg News)