Disney’s Eisner Recuperating After Heart Bypass Surgery

Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael D. Eisner underwent successful emergency quadruple bypass surgery Saturday after complaining of discomfort, officials said.

Dr. Alfredo Trento, who performed the three-hour operation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, called it a normal procedure. He said he expects Eisner to make a “full and speedy recovery” and be home within a few days.

Eisner, 52, was resting comfortably in stable condition after the surgery, a hospital spokesman said. Sources said his family was with him.

Disney executives refused to say much more about Eisner’s condition, but sources close to the executive said they knew of no history of heart trouble.

Company Vice Chairman Roy Disney issued a statement saying Eisner’s duties will be handled by senior corporate executives until his return.

Eisner had just arrived home to Bel-Air from an investment conference in Sun Valley, Ida., on Saturday when the problem began, according to Disney sources. Eisner, a lanky man with graying hair that is usually tousled, is known to the outside world as the smiling face of Walt Disney Co. through his many public appearances. In entertainment industry circles, he is regarded as one of Hollywood’s most shrewd, successful and hard-driven executives.

In 10 years, Eisner and his management team have built the Burbank-based Disney from a declining company into one of the world’s great entertainment conglomerates, with theme parks, movies, retailing and merchandising bearing the ubiquitous Mickey Mouse seal.

Eisner has taken on more responsibility for managing that empire after the death in April of his close friend and chief lieutenant, Disney President Frank Wells, in a helicopter crash in Nevada.

Eisner has also been waging a concerted public relations campaign on behalf of Disney’s America, a controversial historic theme park that the company wants to build on land outside Washington, D.C. Although Disney says the park will accurately reflect the nation’s past, critics have accused the company of trying to sanitize history.

Eisner has also had to contend with financial losses at the Euro-Disney theme park outside Paris.

On the more positive side, Disney’s animation division released its most successful movie ever this month. “The Lion King” has taken in more than $150 million at the box office so far. Eisner spent the past few days at an annual investors seminar sponsored by Herbert Allen Jr. of Allen & Co., a New York investment banking firm that specializes in entertainment deals. Eisner was joined by many top entertainment executives and fund managers.