Disney: Succession Done Wrong, Then Right

Michael Eisner joined Disney in 1984 and engineered one of the great corporate turnarounds of the era. Then his co-leader Frank Wells died in 1994, and Eisner never found another partner who fit. Talent walked. A bitter standoff with Pixar's Steve Jobs put Disney's best films at risk. Roy Disney resigned the board and ran a public campaign to oust him. By 2005 a new CEO inherited the wreckage, repaired the Pixar relationship, and went on a buying spree that reshaped the company.

For founders and operators, this is a study in the slow-motion damage of a succession void and the leadership style that creates or cures it. It sharpens an uncomfortable question every builder eventually faces: if you walked out tomorrow, is there anyone who could hold the culture and the momentum together, and what does the answer say about how you've built your team?