Horn Resigns as President of Fox Studio

Alan Horn, second in command to Barry Diller at 20th Century Fox Film Corp. since Dec. 1, said Monday that he will leave the company Sept. 1. While the parting was billed as amicable, Horn indicated that he had been frustrated about failing to obtain sufficient power over daily operations from Diller.

It was just last Dec. 1 that Horn became president and chief operating officer under Diller, who runs the Los Angeles-based film and television empire for owner Rupert Murdoch.

Horn had been chairman and chief executive of Embassy Communications until its purchase last fall by Coca-Cola Co. from Norman Lear and A. Jerrold Perenchio.

Fox had indicated at the time that Horn would run Fox’s motion picture and television production. Not long after Diller hired Horn, Larry Gordon resigned as president and chief operating officer of Fox’s entertainment group, where he had been second to Diller in the hierarchy.

Diller said in Fox’s announcement of Horn’s resignation that he and Horn had tried unsuccessfully for several months to “divide responsibilities in a manner comfortable to each of us.”

Diller added: “He is a fine and talented executive and it is certainly not his fault that there wasn’t a clear understanding of our working relationship before he joined the company; the responsibility for that is mine.”

Separately, Horn said in an interview that he decided to resign “because it has become clear to me, after several months, that Barry Diller and I have different perceptions of our different roles in the day-to-day operation of the company.

“Though we have attempted to resolve these differences, I now realize that this position will never offer me the range of responsibilities I had expected,” he said. “I wish Barry Diller and the company continued success.”

Horn said he plans to take his time in considering his next move. Although he has “received overtures already,” he said, “I want to really take my time.”

After the end of the month, he added, “I’m going fishing.”