Michael Eisner Defends The Kingdom

With everyone from the Baptists to the Catholics to the blind protesting one of his policies or products, it's no wonder Disney Chairman Michael D. Eisner is a bit, well, defensive.

Thanks to a long string of missteps or disappointments in recent months, Walt Disney Co.'s stock is down 8% from its May high of 84 1/2, despite a rally on July 22 when the company surpassed Wall Street estimates with an 18% earnings increase. Each passing week seems to bring Eisner new troubles. The company recently recalled 100,000 Insane Clown Posse albums after a horrified Eisner belatedly got wind of the rap group's hard-core lyrics. ABC, acquired for $19 billion in a deal struck two years ago, continues to be a ratings loser, and its management turmoil is an acute embarrassment to Eisner, once a top abc programming executive himself. Shareholders are still smarting over the estimated $100 million it cost to get rid of short-lived company President Michael Ovitz, and a $250 million suit brought by another departed Eisner foe, Jeffrey Katzenberg, may go to trial this fall. Eisner still faces criticism that he can't share power.