Game On!!!!! (Save Disney statement about Iger)

[PirateMunkee]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050313/nysu022_2.html

Is it just me or do I hear the clinking of armor and the sharpening of swords. It sounds to me like Eisner was only the beginning. I think the board better fortify up because Team Save Disney is pissed!!!!

[dramaqueen]

I do agree that Disney should have looked harder- I have already mutterings from the corporate world about how unprofessional it is to promote from within in a situation like this.

I am definitely interested to see what happens next.

[jmuboy]

Yeah, I think the battle for who will be the next chairman and calling for the ouster of the entire board will be save Disney's next campaign. I can't see why a brand new board is abad thing. The curent one has done little to nothing to nothing to help the company.

[sediment]

How's the stock price doing today?
Hmm, started the day $0.40 higher (on pre-open buying, I assume), dipped down when the profit-makers bailed, and now it's back up $0.34. Seems the market likes the announcement.
From the reports, a lot of contenders refused to be interviewed while Eisner was in the room.
Board and Chairman are elected by shareholders. That's all shareholders can do regarding keeping Eisner out of power.

[Reaver]

Yeah, I think the battle for who will be the next chairman and calling for the ouster of the entire board will be save Disney's next campaign. I can't see why a brand new board is abad thing. The curent one has done little to nothing to nothing to help the company.

I'd throw every one of my shareholder votes behind an ousting of the board, without a second thought. It's a shame more shareholders don't feel the same way...

[yensid98]

If Roy and Stan go after the board, I am behind them 1,000%. Their actions are reprehensible and should not be glanced over.

[Mr. Eggz]

Just when you think the Board of Directors of TWDC can sink no farther they pull something like this. They only interviewed ONE other candidate and Eisner was involved in at least part of the interview (by Mitchell's own admission). The LA Times states that he was there for the entire three hour interview. This is just wrong. The Board of Directors needs to be replaced...every last one of them!

[PirateMunkee]

Just when you think the Board of Directors of TWDC can sink no farther they pull something like this. They only interviewed ONE other candidate and Eisner was involved in at least part of the interview (by Mitchell's own admission). The LA Times states that he was there for the entire three hour interview. This is just wrong. The Board of Directors needs to be replaced...every last one of them!

Problem is that I wish there was a way to do it. It's obvious that they don't listen to the stockholders. They just delete e-mail and probably never open a single letter written to them by one of us. Didn't a group of fans get together and sue the Band Creed for being crappy onstage? Can't all Disneyfans get into one HUGE class action lawsuits against the Board of Directors of TWDC for shoddy management?

[cellarhound]

Well, Eisner must leave the board of directors. George Mitchell is already gone...

Is Eisner planing on being Chairman? Does the Pope live in Rome? Do you think Roy and Stan will settle for that?

OH, this fight is just beginning... but it is only a proxy vote away...

I already know where my shareholder votes are going... I just want to see an alternative slate...

[dshimel]

It's obvious that they don't listen to the stockholders.

Oh, but they do... They listen to the stockholders that own 66% of the stock... those are the institutional investors.. the mutual funds and the investment broakerage houses.

Those investors really, really, really like Eisner's (and no Iger's) focus on nothing but the bottom line. They just want this whole thing to go away.... without anything really changing.

What we need is about $19 billion. Then we can swing the ownership from 66% greedy corporate institutional investors/33% small investors to 33% institutional/66% small investors... Then the board would have to listen to us small investors.


Let's see. If we can get 1,000,000 irate fans to pitch in $19,000 each....

Count me out, as personally I don't see DIS as a great investment oppertunity, and I don't have that much money liquid anyway... So, you still need to find those 1,000,000 investors willing to put in $19,000 each.

Hope that goes well for ya'.

[Xharryb]

No offense to some of the posters here, but no matter how much you want to get all "Viva Savedisney!", the fact is that they have little or no influence on anything at this point. I'm no happier than any other fan about the current situation, but the poster above me is right. there is very little that we as small investors and general fans can do about any of it. If we still had the momentum of the initial SaveDisney push that earned the "big vote", maybe, but at this point everyone has seen how little that actually accomplished. it's been over a year, and at this point SaveDisney is nothing more than a gnat buzzing about, sending out occasional public statements that really accomplish nothing.

*please pardon my pessimistic attitude, but i'm not in the mood to dilude myself into any false hopes about the future of Disney.

[Dustysage]

No offense to some of the posters here, but no matter how much you want to get all "Viva Savedisney!", the fact is that they have little or no influence on anything at this point.

This is actually a time when Roy and Company can have a major effect on the Disney company. Save Disney is much more than just a thorn in Disney's side. The Disney company lives and breaths on publicity and can not afford negative publicity at this critical time. A new CEO is his weakest upon announcement of his new position. If Save Disney can whip up enough controversy, it may force Iger to step down, or the board to consider appointing a Co-CEO or a strong and well known President. There is also the threat that if the company seems too weak or that the new CEO will not be strong enough to line up a strong balance sheet for the company, that some huge media company may once again try to make a play for the Disney Company. Don't forget that a year ago we were worried about Disney being taken over by a much smaller company (with a bigger stock price). That was, at least in part, due to the doubt that Roy and Stanley had placed in the investment community's mind about Eisner's leadership.

The investing community is currently trading the Disney Company on news of Isner's removal, not on who Iger is or what he will do. That will change in the next few weeks as Iger begins to talk about his plans for the company. Pixar is making comments that they may be able to deal with Iger. This is good news that will help both Disney and Iger. Save Disney is reminding the investing community that Iger is essentially an Isner man and represents more of the same for the Disney. This is bad for Disney and for Iger. This will all boil down to whom the investing community and reporters choose to listen to. Don't expect the board to make any changes until after Eisner steps down and gives them more freedom to do what is really best for the company.

If nothing else, this is amazing theatre that you are all watching right now. Boardroom life as art!

-The Dusty Sage

[PirateMunkee]

I'm actually wondering if the board is actually playing some games on their own. Since they can interview anyone properly with Eisner in the room with them, Agree with who Eisner picked as his successor for the time being. That way Eisner is gone earlier and they can actually assume a real search without Eisner's influence. The board has to know Iger was a bad choice and figure they could great rid of him when a real CEO can be found. Of course this is the conspiracist side of me talking and we just may in fact be stuck with the Eisner Clone leading the company.

[lyd]

The board is made of people who are basically the 'Best Friends' of Michael Eisner. How else to explain his presence in the one interview. Having read the book Disney War, I am appalled by the action of Eisners last 7-9 years at the helm. The man does not live in the present day, he is still living in the 70's when he was the head of ABC.

To this day I still find it funny that Wall Street only looks at the bottom line. They must delve deeper into the situation and realize that the Disney orginization is so disfunctional that it runs like a rusty old tanker about to sink into the sea. If getting to the bottom line every quarter means having to cut jobs, cut hours, make second rate sequels, build half day parks, buy assets which put the company into even greater debt, but give your executives outrageous bonuses is Wall Streets view of success. Then we are headed for a major disappointment from Disney for years to come.

SHAREHOLDERS - You have the power to do something - VOTE!

[RebuildtheKingdom]

For those of you who would like to know something more about each of the people who sit on the WDC board of directors, I've compiled an article complete with each director's work history, which committee they sit on, other companies they are involved with and other information. One must know thy enemy...

A Closer Look at the WDC Board of Directors

I hope you don't mind the link Al, but folks who may not want to take this lying down might want to start educating themselves for the battle ahead. I'm positive the SaveDisney team isn't gonna just sit there and take this crap from the board.

[J.B.Opie]

I voted, and I will again next year against the board, even though I only have 125 shares (<.000001%)

Keep up the fight, Roy and Stan!!!

[cellarhound]

If Save Disney can whip up enough controversy, it may force Iger to step down, or the board to consider appointing a Co-CEO or a strong and well known President.

Like I have said before... Getting Eisner to step down as CEO was a Giant Step... But there would be no way to do so and have him not determine the rules of his depature... Which was to get Iger as CEO... And it was his actions no matter how honorable or dishonorable they where betrayed this desire... Oh, and Iger was also on the Board when Meg was interviewed...

If you want to talk about a "Fix."

They listen to the stockholders that own 66% of the stock... those are the institutional investors.. the mutual funds and the investment broakerage houses.

The trouble is that of that 66%... Many of them are State Employee Funds mostly held by Teachers... They are not happy with what has come out of Disney in recent years... Among these are CalPers which is Disney's largest investor...

Of course there are those of us individual investors who usually are trading for the long term... Most of whom don't usually vote on the proxy... Which allows full authorization to the board to act in their best interests.

Pixar is making comments that they may be able to deal with Iger. This is good news that will help both Disney and Iger.

The biggest obsticle was a personal vindetta between Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner... Eisner testified before congress refering directly to Apple's marketing campaign, calling for heavier regulations because it promotes activities that harm Disney's copywrites.

It is understandable why Jobs doesn't want to even talk to Eisner... And my money is on Jobs, because he has been fighting Bill Gates for years now.

Iger may or may not have a chance to patch it up... Everyone hopes so... But with what has been happening with content and Ipod, and maybe TiVo if Apple purchases the company... A strategic alliance between Apple and Disney is almost more important than an alliance between Pixar and Disney...

That is one of the things that infuriated me about the Dream Desk... Disney getting into computing and dissing Jobs, yet again...

[Cousin Orville]

"All we are saaaaaaaaaaaaying is give Bob a chance..."

If he brings Pixar back without giving away the store, he's golden.

[cellarhound]

"All we are saaaaaaaaaaaaying is give Bob a chance..."

If he brings Pixar back without giving away the store, he's golden.

Pixar is going to demand a better deal... And I am surprised that Disney agreed to the last one... But much is riding on Chicken Little for Disney if it flops of if it flies...

Pixar is looking for a deal which will look more like DreamWorks Animation's deal with NBC/Universal...

The only other player really is Viacom...

Lion's Gate isn't big enough... But I imagine that LG will want to partner with the Weinstein's new company...