Wilson Quits as Disney Chief Financial Officer

Gary L. Wilson has stepped aside as chief financial officer of Walt Disney Co. but remains with the company as an adviser.

Wilson has been a key player on the senior management team that took over Disney in September, 1984, after the entertainment giant fought off two takeover attempts. He has been credited with helping to engineer the financing that has allowed Disney to grow at a rapid pace during the past five years.

The announcement of the management change contributed to a sharp fall in Disney’s already weak stock. Disney, one of the most active issues on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, fell $4.50 to $109.25 a share. The stock traded as high as $136.25 earlier this year, when it was buoyed by takeover speculation.

Industry analysts called the stock fall an overreaction.

“I still think the company will have a tremendous growth story over the next couple of years,” said Andrew Wallach, an entertainment analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc.

Judson Green, who has been chief financial officer of Euro Disneyland SCA, succeeds Wilson as Disney’s chief financial officer. Lawrence P. Murphy, senior vice president-strategy and development, will also assume some of Wilson’s operating responsibilities.

Wilson, who has signed a five-year contract with Disney, said he would continue to be involved with planning Disney’s future.

“This has kind of been evolving over the past year or so,” Wilson said in a telephone interview from Colorado, where he was on a skiing vacation with Disney Chairman Michael D. Eisner.

“I will continue to be very focused on the strategic and financial side,” he said. “The younger guys will have a chance to operate.” Wilson will turn 50 next month.

He said he would focus on seeking out major acquisitions. “We’ve done a lot of technical acquisitions that have been very good for the company,” he said. “But we haven’t done any major acquisitions, which I would consider over $1 billion, because the prices have been too high.”

Wilson said he expected acquisition prices to fall in the coming decade but declined to detail what areas are drawing Disney’s attention.

Disney operates theme parks, makes movies and recently formed a new independent record label, Hollywood Records.