Michael Ovitz Was Unfairly Attacked

Your editorial equating Michael Ovitz’s alleged office “redecoration” with putting American lives at risk, prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib and an athlete “indiscriminately beating up fans” is beyond comprehension. The Times alleges that, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be held accountable and fired for Abu Ghraib and Indiana Pacer Ron Artest for the fight with the fans, so should Ovitz have been held accountable and terminated for cause for a limousine ride through an amusement park and an office building renovation.

Not a single Disney director or officer has agreed. Disney’s lawyer concluded that it would have been unethical and improper to suggest to Ovitz that he could be terminated for cause. So the parties lived up to the deal they had made, as they should have. As Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner testified, Ovitz did not “manage to spend $2 million redecorating his office.” The project involved the reconstruction and renovation of portions of two floors of the Disney headquarters building, work ordered and approved by Eisner, not Ovitz.

Ovitz has been criticized for not “fitting in” with the Disney culture. But it is also true that the hiring of Ovitz was lauded by business experts and shareholders alike. An expert testified that Disney immediately enjoyed over $1 billion in increased market capitalization attributable to the hiring. Based on the deals Ovitz proposed to the company, the market was right.

In reliance on representations made to him by Eisner and Disney, approved by Disney’s board and later memorialized in his contract, Ovitz sold his interest in the company he founded and gave up his stable and lucrative job there. He had a right to expect that his agreement would be honored. Disney’s officers, directors and lawyers all agreed.

James H. Ellis

Counsel for Michael S. Ovitz

Santa Monica