ITV

Tag: Stanley Gold

  • Disney CEO Eisner to step down in 2006

    Disney CEO Eisner to step down in 2006

    MUMBAI: Walt Disney has said that its CEO Michael Eisner will step down in September 2006, when his contract expires.
     

    In a letter to the Disney board Eisner said, “Until then I shall continue to exert every effort to help the company achieve our goals, to assist the board in selecting the new chief executive officer, and to make the transition expeditious, efficient, and smooth and easy.

    “I know that it has been a very challenging time for the board members during this period, and I am most grateful for all of the time and effort, consideration and support, and concern for the company that all of you have demonstrated.”

    However Antony Gifford, who helps manage about $2 billion of US stocks at Henderson Global Investors in London was quoted in a Bloomberg report expressing disappointment that Eisner would only leave after another two years.

    ” We believe that Disney has some attractive assets that are worth more than the share price suggests. But Eisner wasn’t the man to unlock that value.”

    Meanwhile, in an earlier interview with the Wall Street Journal, Eisner had maintained that he didn’t make the decision to step down because of pressure from Roy Disney and Gold or Comcast’s takeover bid.

    As had been reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Eisner had earlier said that he wanted Disney President and COO Robert Iger to succeed him. However, in his letter to the board, Eisner made no mention of Iger

    It may be recalled that in November 2003 former Disney directors Roy Disney and Stanley Gold had resigned from the board to wage a campaign against Eisner.

  • Will Eisner survive the ‘Spring at Disney’?

    Will Eisner survive the ‘Spring at Disney’?

    MUMBAI: They call it Spring at Disney – the Disney corporate board meeting held every April.

    This year’s meet, that is currently underway, happens to be one of the most closely watched corporate board meetings in recent memory. The meet will decide the fate of CEO Michael Eisner who was ousted from the post of chairman following an investors’ revolt on 3 March. Till then, he was holding the twin posts of chairman and CEO.

    Media reports suggest that some high-profile investors have called on Disney directors to dismiss Eisner, whose contract ends in September 2006. But not many Disney observers are anticipating such drastic action as Eisner’s dismissal. Directors of Disney are also expected to analyse the post-March developments during the meet.

    In March, Eisner had agreed to step down as chairman after 43 per cent of shareholders withheld their votes from Eisner has been blamed by some for the lackluster performance of the media-entertainment powerhouse in recent years. The company has acknowledged several of its movies biting the dust at the box-office, including the recent releases Home on the Range and The Alamo. Disney has also moved to shake up the management at its struggling ABC (American Broadcasting Company) television network.

    The meeting has attracted a lot of media glare also because it might signal the future of Comcast Corporation’s unsolicited bid. Aspiring Disney-owner Comcast has been keeping mum in recent weeks on its outstanding offer for Disney, as they are awaiting quarterly earnings announcement this Wednesday. At the same time, some reports suggest that Comcast is ready to withdraw its bid.

    “The board at Disney has two options: oust Mr. Eisner today in order to open the door to an internal successor or keep him and his preternatural resistance to grooming senior executive talent at the expense of his perceived responsibility for Disney’s performance,” reads an article in Red Herring.com.

    Meanwhile, dissident shareholders Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold lashed against the Disney’s director board in their web site www.SaveDisney.com Making a dig at Eisner and his colleagues, Stanley Gold writes: “Well, Spring at Disney is here again! And do you know how we can tell? They’re rearranging the deck chairs again at ABC. It’s an annual festival, a little like Musical Chairs, where everyone moves up, down, or over a place or two and pretends it’s the solution to the fourth place dilemma. And there are always a few faces missing when it’s over.”

  • Disney’s Eisner on a ego boosting trip?

    Disney’s Eisner on a ego boosting trip?

    MUMBAI: Does the Walt Disney Company or rather its chairman and CEO Michael Eisner know what he wants? Is he waiting for a bid or not, and if he is, then the obvious question is why?

    Eisner was recently quoted in a media report saying that the board was open to a “really spectacular” offer but nonetheless would not give away the company. Sounds more like ego boosting.

    Disney which is facing a looming takeover bid from Comcast Corp. and is also under fire from dissident shareholders.

    When Comcast made the unsolicited bid to Disney on 11 February, the company’s board turned down the offer as too low. According to a media report, Eisner who was interviewed by Larry King on cable channel CNN, declined to name a price for Disney. “Ah, please!” he said, adding that he would not give away sports channel ESPN and other premier brands. Eisner said that he believed he had the full support of the Disney board in the face of the Comcast bid and criticism from dissident shareholder Roy Disney.

    Comcast is also a Disney customer and is negotiating a new contract with ESPN. A media report said that ESPN had cut deals on 19 February with Comcast rivals Cox Communications Inc. and Charter Communications Inc., and Eisner said he would like to charge Comcast more just because he “felt that way.”

    On the other hand Disney dissident Roy Disney said that the Comcast offer too low for the company. Roy Disney and fellow former board member Stanley Gold said in a statement, “In the view of many, including us, the Comcast offer does not adequately reflect the true potential value of Disney’s assets.”

    Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney, and Gold have been campaigning for the ouster of Eisner.

  • Microsoft features in the Com-Di affair

    Microsoft features in the Com-Di affair

    MUMBAI: While a lot of speculations are being made in the media about the outcome of the Comcast-Disney merger if it does come about; here’s the latest on that front.

    Now looks like the world’s leading software company Microsoft is a possible suitor for Disney. It may turn out that in the bid that Comcast made for Disney; Microsoft may be the silent partner.

    The software company owns 7.4 per cent of Comcast and would eventually end up controlling about four per cent of the world’s largest media company if Comcast’s bid succeeds.

    A few analysts said in a media report that the stake could give Microsoft leverage over the course of the deal and afterward as it looks to push its software beyond the maturing market for personal computers and into the still-developing boom in digital entertainment.

    Since Microsoft has long sought to forge links in the telecommunications and entertainment industries in order to sell its software, it could definitely emerge as a rival bidder for Disney. With nearly $53 billion in cash, Microsoft could easily pay for a large media franchise, such as Disney, with cash or stock.

    Reports indicate that even a minority ownership in a media giant rivaling Time Warner Inc. could be enough to create stronger links between Microsoft’s software, Comcast’s distribution and Disney’s prized entertainment assets.

    On the other hand, Disney’s CEO Michael Eisner said today that Walt Disney Co. did not need a new distribution outlet for its films and television shows because of their popularity. Eisner was quoted in a media report saying, “There are great distribution companies, there are great content companies. They can be together. They don’t have to be together. We feel we’re running a pretty good company as it is.”

    In the midst of all this, Eisner is also fending off calls to resign by ex-directors of the company – Roy Disney and Stanley Gold as he campaigns for re-election to the board before the company’s annual meeting on 3 March.

    If you are wondering what a staid cable company like Comcast might want with the Mickey Mouse business. Well, lots. If the merger does come about, Comcast would be, for one, saving up on a lot of money. Disney’s films and television shows and networks add up to programming that – if owned by Comcast – wouldn’t have to be bought regularly.

    To spell it out, Comcast can benefit from Disney’s content in the following ways:

    * By creating new cable channels based on Disney content.
    * Comcast Cable president Steve Burke, a former Disney executive, said in a media report last week that he envisioned all-Disney, all-the-time channels he could offer for $9.95 a month. Likewise, Comcast could sell movies from Disney’s vast archives.
    * With cross-promotion. Comcast could sell packages of commercial time for both Disney’s ESPN and Comcast’s Golf Channel, for instance, to advertisers willing to pay a bit more to be on both channels.
    * Bargaining power with other content providers. With its own supply of films, television shows and other features, a combined Comcast-Disney might be in a better position to negotiate with other content suppliers like TNT or HBO for cheaper prices.

    In all this drama, Disney’s boy Roy Disney remains his silence on Comcast’s offer for the company.

  • Disney board shield Michael Eisner from critics

    Disney board shield Michael Eisner from critics

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company’s board said yesterday that the campaign by two former directors, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, to oust the chief executive, Michael Eisner, was misleading and distracted the company’s leaders from a turnaround that started last year.

    The board vowed “to set the record straight” in its letter, which comes in response to repeated criticism from Roy Disney and his ally Stanley Gold, both of whom resigned from Disney’s board last year. It said that the two former directors backed some decisions they now condemn.

    Disney and Gold have mounted a protest campaign to vote against the reelection of Eisner and three other board members at the 3 March annual meeting.

    The letter to the shareholders is the most detailed response from the company or its board since Disney and Gold resigned last year and started the campaign. The duo have criticised Eisner, saying that he has failed to revive the ABC television network and has alienated business partners.

    Roy Disney also accused Eisner of draining the creativity from the company and mismanaging its finances over the past decade. As a retort, the board said that the attack was based on distorted evidence.

    The board’s 13 directors, including Eisner, also said they intended to add another independent director this year.