Ovitz Named Disney President

The Magic Kingdom now has an heir apparent.

Hollywood superagent Michael Ovitz was named to the No. 2 post at the Walt Disney Co. on Monday and will oversee a far-flung empire that will include ABC.

Ovitz, who began his career as a tour guide at Universal Studios, will leave his job as chairman of Creative Artists Agency, which he co-founded, to become president of Disney, starting Oct. 1.

The Disney presidency has been vacant since Frank G. Wells was killed in a helicopter crash in April 1994. Michael Eisner remains Disney’s chairman and chief executive.

“As far as I’m concerned we’ll be interchangeable,” Eisner said. “Frankly, instead of having two arms and two eyes, we now have four arms and four eyes.”

Ovitz will oversee Disney movies, theme parks, consumer products and Capital Cities-ABC once the company’s $19 billion merger is complete.

Talks with Ovitz began after Disney announced the surprise merger last month, when the need for more management help became obvious, Eisner said.