Walt Disney last night named company president Robert Iger to succeed Michael Eisner as chief executive of the film, television and theme park company, from the end of September.
Mr Eisner, who previously had indicated he would stay until his contract ended in September 2006, said in a letter he would retire as chief executive in September and remain on the board until the 2006 annual meeting.
Mr Eisner said he would not request that he be renominated to the board or seek the job as chairman when former senator George Mitchell retires.
Mr Iger was the frontrunner in the race to replace Mr Eisner, but the announcement came sooner than expected, since the company's board had set a June 2005 target to find a new chief.
The announcement also came days after Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, former directors of Walt Disney who were instrumental in removing Mr Eisner as company chairman, said in a letter to directors that directors were subverting the search for a new chief executive.
Mr Iger (54) has been president and chief operating officer of the company since January 2000. His career started at ABC in 1974 in New York as a studio supervisor and he joined Disney after the company acquired Capital Cities/ABC in 1996.
