Eisner Era to End?

02/08/1999 at 12:00 AM EST

"Michael Eisner's extraordinary reign at the Walt Disney Company is coming to an end," states New York magazine's media critic Michael Wolff. "To think it is to know it." The famous -- and fabulously wealthy -- CEO of the empire built by Mickey Mouse has been at the helm of Disney since 1984, when he turned the underdeveloped sleeping beauty into a virtual money machine. But as of late the company -- and Eisner -- have been taking their knocks . . . on the stock market, in the courtroom (where a bitter battle with former exec Jeffrey Katzenberg severely tarnished Eisner's nice-guy image) and in the power corridors of Hollywood, where Eisner reportedly has enemies. "This is tragic-figure stuff," writes Kramer, who paints a scenario in which the "controlling" Eisner is quietly eased out after bringing in a powerful new No. 2 man.