Disney chairman, Mr Michael Eisner has gathered in one of the biggest corporate windfalls in history, as much as $500 million (£340 million), by cashing in more than seven million stock options.

With the bonanza, Mr Eisner has earned about $1 billion since taking the helm of the entertainment group 13 years ago.

Mr Eisner, whose lucrative contract runs until 2006, used his options to buy 7.3 million shares at 1989 prices. He immediately sold 5.4 million shares, added 1.6 million to his cache of Disney stock and donated 300,000 to the Eisner Family Foundation charity.