- Credit Markets on Edge About When Fed Will Raise Rates
- Bove: Expect Goldman To Increase Dividend Meaningfully
- Bullish Sign for Gold: Central Banks Are Big Buyers
- Victoria's Secret Hopes to Rekindle Desire for Lingerie
- High Roller Sues Harrah's for Lost Millions
- Wall Street Jobs Slow to Return Despite Record Profits
- Big Shareholders Ask Goldman to Cut Bonuses: Report
- Buying an Expensive House? Government Can Help
- Review: What It's Like to Drive the New Chevy Volt
- How Stock Investors Can Play Holiday Travel
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Hirschhorn: Greed...or Fear
- My Top 10 Tech Toys for the Holidays
- iPhone a Better Gaming Platform Than Android?
- May Day For Dendreon
- 100% Mortgage Financing From USDA
- Holiday Tipping: Who And How Much
- Deep Discounts Should Make It a Very Tech-y Holiday
MOST SHARED
- Nielsen Ratings Coming to Video Games
- US Wants China to Buy into Its Small Banks
- Warren Buffett to CNBC: Curbing Fed's Independence Could Lead to 'Mischief'
- Confessions of a Black Friday Shopper
- Volt Drive: Great Ride, Interesting Interior and a Friendly Chirp
- Twilight, Inc., A Worldwide Craze
- Nov. 20: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- This Holiday Season—Little Joy For Those Hard Hit
- 'New Moon' Midnight Showings Earn Record $26.3 Million
Text Size 
Walt Disney stepped up an overhaul of its management by announcing that two top executives, its finance chief and the head of its parks division, will swap jobs at the end of this year.
 |
Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs has served in his current job for more than a decade, presiding over acquisitions of Capital Cities/ABC, Pixar and the pending purchase of Marvel Entertainment [MVL
Loading...
()
]. Jay Rasulo assumed the role of parks chairman in 2000.
Thursday's announcement follows a restructuring of Disney's [DIS
Loading...
()
] film studio's marketing, distribution, and operations divisions on Wednesday and the departure on Monday of Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion pictures group.
Those moves came on the heels of the abrupt departures of former Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook in September, which shocked both Hollywood and Wall Street, and of Miramax Films President Daniel Battsek last month.
Analysts said Thursday's job swap likely reflected Disney's desire to deepen the experience of two highly regarded executives, particularly Staggs.
Disney may also be aiming to bolster its parks operations with a fresh perspective as it moves forward in the tough economic environment and prepares for a new theme park in Shanghai. The division encompasses Disney's theme parks, resorts, cruise lines, and vacation and time share operations.
"There are two reasons they could be doing this," said analyst David Bank of RBC Capital Markets. "The parks business is really challenging right now and they believe Staggs could help it, or they want Staggs to have more operational experience on the road to something bigger."
Rasulo, meanwhile, as the parks division boss oversaw expansions of Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim and Hong Kong Disneyland, and led negotiations with the Chinese government for the new Shanghai theme park.
Both will continue to report to Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger.
Shares of Disney were down on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Technology can make or break a fortune in the world of alternative energy.
- Many people are facing the holidays with substantially smaller incomes. Here’s how some are adapting.
- Jim Cramer is a proponent of stocks that pay healthy dividends, and here are his top five dividend plays.
- From salt, to lip balm to envelopes, it turns out that bacon flavoring can sell almost anything.
- The homebuyer's tax credit jacked sales for a while, but 2010 is looking weak. Now what?
- CNBC’s technology reporter Jim Goldman guides you through the best gadgets to buy this holiday season.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes