Ovitz’s Options

In 14 months, Michael Ovitz, who resigned Thursday as president of Walt Disney Co., has tumbled from his unofficial post as the most powerful man in Hollywood (while head of Creative Artists Agency) to being unemployed. Some say he might have trouble landing another high-level corporate job. A look at where he could be headed:

* Sony: There has been widespread speculation that Ovitz has talked with the company about managing its entertainment operations--a job left vacant last year after Michael Schulhof was forced out. Sony President Nobuyuki Idei has spoken highly of Ovitz, but the company denied again this week that it has any intention of hiring him.

* Viacom: Chairman Sumner Redstone fired his chief executive, Frank Biondi, in January and hasn’t replaced him. But if Ovitz had trouble working with Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, he might not find it any more hospitable working for Redstone.

* Entrepreneurial venture: Ovitz could pursue a venture inside or outside the entertainment industry, backed by any number of deep-pocketed patrons. He has established strong relationships with many of the richest and most powerful people in the world.

* Where he won’t be going: Ovitz probably won’t return to the talent management business where he built his reputation as founder of CAA. Nor is he likely to end up at Time Warner or Fox, where there are no positions open, or at Seagram’s Universal Studios, where Ovitz overplayed his hand with Edgar Bronfman Jr. during negotiations last year.