Walt Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, will step down in 2006 after nearly two decades at the helm of the multimedia company. Eisner’s employment contract expires in September 2006. The announcement follows a recent shareholder uprising which put him under great pressure to resign. Six months ago he gave up his title as Chairman of the Board. “It has been a fantastic Disney ride for the past twenty years,” Eisner wrote in a letter to Disney which was released today. “Ups and downs to be sure but filled great satisfaction in building this wonderful creator of classic American culture into one of the premiere entertainment oriented companies in the world.”

The resignation may be a preemptive move. Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold have been campaigning for Eisner’s ouster. Eisner has said he will help find a successor. Those in the running include second-in-command Robert Iger, as well as Viacom’s Les Moonves, and even Steve Jobs of Apple who is the majority shareholder of Disney partner, Pixar. Eisner has stated that Iger is his preferred choice but the decision will be made by Disney’s board of directors.