Mr. Wagner, however, ignored the explicit demand for his resignation, pointed out that his contract was for life, and cited Katharina as the only family member he'd consider as a successor, an idea that seemed absurd, given her youth and lack of experience.
Arun Sarin, Mr. Gent's successor, had another idea.
That would be Mia Yoo, who, while it was widely understood was being groomed as a successor, had no idea this announcement was coming.
Even Jeff Immelt, his successor, dismissed the idea of adding either a film studio or a cable network to NBC as recently as last year, saying: "Breadth has not created any kind of economic value".And yet, in merging NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE), that is exactly what GE is doing.
Their successors supported the idea that Moscow was the proper heir to Rome and Constantinople.
But such a delay might be problematic if Mr. Bush did not win re-election in 2004 and his successor had different ideas.
The Mummy (1932) and its successors preserved the idea of mysterious Egypt, while Claudette Colbert's Cleopatra (1932) saw history as an excuse for spectacle, a tradition continued by Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra (1963).
It was started by the then justice secretary, Chris Grayling, who stripped out millions of pounds, and was certainly not halted by his immediate successor, Michael Gove, whose ideas were well-intentioned but lacking operational credibility.
Studies conducted by Winter's successors confirmed his idea and led to the development of an "ideal dressing" model.
