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Faced with the need to hire a new president, The Walt Disney Company pursued Michael Ovitz, a founder of the Creative Artist Agency. Although initially disinterested, Ovitz engaged in negotiations with Michael Eisner, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, in the summer of 1995 before accepting an offer. Ovitz officially began as president on 1 October of that year. While the hiring of Ovitz was at first heralded as a coup for Disney, Eisner and senior executives began to have doubts about Ovitz's fit with the company culture. By the summer of 1996, Eisner decided Ovitz had to be fired. He began conversations with members of the board of directors, who agreed Ovitz's contract should be terminated. Ovitz left the company at the end of the year with a sizable severance package.