Bloomberg said an eBay spokesperson confirmed that eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman withdrew as a candidate for the top job at Disney on Friday, after meeting with the board earlier in the week. The Disney board announced the appointment of Disney insider Robert Iger as CEO on Sunday.
Whitman had been heavily courted as a candidate to succeed Michael Eisner as Disney's chief executive officer, according to the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. While Whitman was reportedly the top outside contender, Robert Iger was seen as favored by Eisner.
Two former Walt Disney board directors reportedly criticized the Disney board Thursday for allowing Eisner to sit in on interviews of candidates for his job. According to SmartMoney magazine, "(Stanley P.) Gold and Roy Disney's letter requests that Eisner, as well as all non-independent directors, be excluded from the interview process for a new chief executive."
Whether Whitman feared stepping into a situation too fraught with politics, or whether she saw the writing on the wall, is anybody's guess. The Wall Street Journal said she was tired of waiting for a decision, though other reports indicated Whitman had only seriously considered the job in the last week or so. If her withdrawal Friday - leaked to the press - was a negotiating tactic to force the board's hand, it backfired.
