Disney Imagineering Exec Is Leaving

In the latest of a spate of executive departures at Walt Disney Co., the president of the company’s real estate and theme-park engineering unit said Thursday he is leaving to pursue his own “artistic and entrepreneurial opportunities.”

No replacement was named for Kenneth Wong, 44, who had been with Disney for eight years, the last five at Walt Disney Imagineering. Other recent departures from the Burbank entertainment company include Jake Winebaum, the head of Disney’s Internet operations, and Eddie Sotto, one of the top creative designers at Imagineering, both of them for online ventures in which they will have ownership stakes.

Wong said he, too, has his eye on the Internet, in combination with “art, design, technology and real estate. . . . These are the things that have always interested me.” He declined to be specific about his new endeavors but said he is leaving on friendly business and personal terms with his immediate boss, Paul Pressler.

Pressler, a former Disneyland president with a reputation as a cost-cutter, was promoted last December to president of Disney’s entire theme-park and resorts empire. At the same time, the Glendale-based Imagineering unit--originally set up by Walt Disney outside the company itself, and proud of its creative independence--was put under Pressler’s supervision.

Company spokesman John Dreyer said there are no immediate plans to replace Wong. Wong expressed confidence that he has strong project leaders on all fronts, including “second gate” theme parks for the company in Anaheim, Tokyo and Paris. Pressler will now work more closely with those project leaders, Wong said.

Wong’s departure comes at a time when the company’s stock has slumped and Disney is reviewing every nook and cranny of its operations for efficiencies.