Net Worth:
$790 million
Last Year:
Not on list
Age:
65
Residence:
Los Angeles
Source of Wealth:
Stock options and grants
The Money:
Net worth largely based on former Walt Disney Co. chief executive’s 14 million shares of stock in his longtime former employer (third largest individual stake after Steven Jobs and Roy Disney). The stake has benefited from 26 percent spike in Disney’s share price over the past year. Post-Disney, he has founded venture capital firm Tornante Co.
Buzz:
Eisner has clearly moved on since retiring from Disney in late 2005 amid a Roy Disney-led shareholder revolt. Tornante and private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners are in talks to take over iconic baseball card maker Topps Co., but dissident board members are resisting the deal, which is valued at $385 million. Baseball cards are big business, especially rare ones. Eisner’s other investments are less controversial. His new Vuguru production studio recently released its first Internet production, a serial mystery called “Prom Queen” that will be shown in 90-second episodes with advertiser support on MySpace. Tornante also acquired Team Baby, which produces sports DVDs for infants. Eisner’s year-old, bi-monthly talk-show, “Conversations with Michael Eisner,” continues to run on CNBC, but ratings have been hampered by an erratic airing schedule. On the philanthropic side, the Eisner Foundation, run by wife, Jane, gives approximately $7 million per year to local non-profit organizations serving children.
