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) - 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.