Oracle's Safra Catz among two new members named to Disney board
FILE PHOTO - Safra A. Catz, Chief Executive Officer, Oracle, speaks at 2017 SelectUSA Investment Summit in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts · Reuters · Reuters

(Reuters) - Media company Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> on Thursday named Oracle Corp's <ORCL.O> chief executive, Safra Catz, and her counterpart at Illumina Inc <ILMN.O>, Francis A. deSouza, to its board.

Disney said their election would be effective Feb. 1 but it was yet to decide on which committees they would serve on.

The company currently has 12 members on its board, including Facebook Inc's <FB.O> Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter Inc's <TWTR.N> Jack Dorsey.

The election of the two new members comes at a time when Disney is said to be in the lead to acquire much of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's <FOXA.O> media empire.

Disney Chief Executive and Chairman Bob Iger contemplates on extending his tenure past 2019 to facilitate the integration of Fox's assets if a deal is completed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)