(Reuters) - Media company Walt Disney Co (>> Walt Disney Company (The)) on Thursday named Oracle Corp's chief executive, Safra Catz, and her counterpart at Illumina Inc (>> Illumina), 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 (>> Facebook) Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter Inc's (>> Twitter) 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 (>> Twenty-First Century Fox) 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)