Almost from the beginning, Ovitz clashed with already established Disney management, including friend and Disney CEO Michael Eisner. On December 11, 1996, Eisner and Ovitz agreed to a non-fault termination of Ovitz employment. For a little more than one year's worth of work, Ovitz received over $38 million in cash and options valued at $40 million. Not surprisingly, some Disney shareholders were upset with this turn of events and sued the company's management and board of directors. See Brehm v. Eisner, 746 A.2d 244 (Sup Ct Del 2000) .

The court ruled the shareholders had not stated a claim against the directors. But the court remanded the case to allow the plaintiffs to amend their complaint, which they did to considerably more success.

For information on Disney's executive compensation, see the discloure in the notes to its 1995 annual report.