Another Disney Defection

Written by Eric Olsen
Published December 01, 2003

Just two weeks after Mickey Mouse turned 75, there is mucho turmoil in the House of Mouse. Michele just discussed Roy Disney's departure from the Disney board yesterday and his scathing criticism of chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner.

Now a second board member has resigned:

    Stanley Gold, a key ally of former Disney vice chairman Roy E. Disney, resigned from the media and entertainment conglomerate's board Monday becoming the second vocal opponent of chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner to quit the board in two days.

    Gold issued a long rebuke to Eisner and The Walt Disney Co.'s board Monday, seconding complaints made Sunday by Roy Disney and further criticizing the board for being a rubber stamp to senior management.

    Gold also repeated Roy Disney's calls for Eisner to resign.

    "It is clear to me that this board is unwilling to tackle the difficult issues I believe this company continues to face - management failures and accountability for those failures, operational deficiencies, imprudent capital allocations, the cannibalization of certain company icons for short-term gain, the enormous loss of creative talent over the last years, the absence of succession planning and the lack of strategic focus," Gold wrote. [AP]

Ooh, burn. I wonder if all this means anything.
    Sunday, Roy Disney stepped down from the board of directors and called on Eisner to resign.

    "It is my sincere belief that it is you that should be leaving and not me," Disney wrote to Eisner in a scathing letter.

    Disney, 73, is the last family member active in the company, founded in the 1920s by his uncle Walt and his father, Roy O. Disney, who was the business manager. He said he also is quitting as chairman of the company's animation division.

    His departure may have been a pre-emptive move to avoid being forced from the board. Its governance and nominating committee decided against recommending him for another term because he is over the mandated retirement age of 72, the company said Sunday.

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and publisher of Blogcritics.org, which, quite frankly, rules - as do his wife and four children.
Keep reading for information and comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own!
Another Disney Defection
Published: December 01, 2003
Type:
Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: News
Writer: Eric Olsen
Eric Olsen's BC Writer page
Eric Olsen's personal site
Spread the Word
Like this article?
Email this
Submit to del.icio.us Save to del.icio.us
RSS Feeds
All RSS Feeds (240+)
Comments on this article
BC articles by Eric Olsen
Video: News
All Video Articles
Eric Olsen's personal weblog
All BC articles
All BC Comments

Comments

Want comments emailed to you? No spam, promise! Address:

Add your comment, speak your mind

(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/10585)

Personal attacks are not allowed. Please read our comment policy.





Remember Name/URL?

Please preview your comment!

Fresh
Articles
Fresh
Comments