I just got an alert from Forbes briefly stating that the Disney board is planning for Eisners succession. In this (http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2004/02/10/rtr1254694.html) article it says the "board of directors had met in January to consider a succession plan for Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eisner and planned to devote more time to the issue in April."

It's not much, but it's a glimmer of hope!

This seems to be part of the counter-war being launched by the Board against Disney and Gold. A previous criticism of the Board was that they hadn't ever developed a succession plan. Now they can say "we have one of those." Seems like more of a PR move to counter Disney/Gold rather than a realistic "were gonna replace him" move. But who knows.

To some on the board, Eisner is their bread and butter. I don't know how much they make for it, but it probably gets them board positions elsewhere, into exclusive parties with wealthy folk, etc. If Eisner goes, the next guy is going to want his own board people.
It's not just Eisner, folks.

Mouse Planet readers missed some snippy little tosses back and forth Monday night between Disney Co. and Roy Disney via press releases. Disney wrote a letter to shareholders, essentially telling them to ignore Roy Disney and Stanley Gold. Roy Disney answered back fairly soon afterward with a press release on PRNewswire, answering specifically some of the points in teh Disney shareholder letter. Search back to Disney news of Monday, February 9, not the Microsoft announcement, and you'll find the exchange, or articles about the exchange. Roy Disney and Stanley Gold's official press release is on their SaveDisney.com site, along with streaming video of when Stanley Gold was on CNBC's Kudlow and Cramer show on the 6th of February.

About Disney considering a succession plan for Michael Eisner, it's interesting to note they apparently took this up at a Board meeting "in January" (about a month or a bit more after Roy Disney and Stanley Gold left the Board) and plan to do more about it "in April" (a month after the shareholder's meeting). Note also a comment from George Mitchell in the news story, that he at least has attended every Disney Board meeting while Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have not. Subscribers to SaveDisney.com have been asked to send specific E-mails to George Mitchell and describe to that Board member their concerns about the Disney company. Three other Board members can also be addressed directly via E-mail link on SaveDisney.com.

The letter campaign is apparently working. If you read the news stories from Monday night and this evening and have heard that Abigail Disney was denied entry to an investors' conference with institutional investors in Orlando over the weekend, you can see that perhaps the letter writing campaign and whatever Roy Disney and Stanley Gold are doing is starting to get under Disney's skin. Which, of course, is the whole point. In tonight's news stories, we see some acknowledgement at last of shareholders' concerns over Michael Eisner's succession and that the Disney Board is addressing those concerns. The public pressure on Disney is beginning to show some signs of getting through as well as being directly responded to. This is forward movement. The efforts are working.

Anyone who hasn't publicized SaveDisney.com yet or hasn't written a letter to the Board members to be voted "no" on, or written yet to Roy Disney and Stanley Gold...don't lose heart and don't think it's an empty exercise. Clearly some of this is getting through. They may not read the E-mails, but they can certainly note the volume and the general direction and tone of those E-mails and keep a tally. If E-mail doesn't impress you as being effective, try snail mail instead. The addresses are in the "Contact Us" section of SaveDisney.com. Anything is worth a try, even a brief business letter does some good.

Disney announces quarterly results tomorrow in a conference call to shareholders, analysts and business and news journalists. Roy Disney and Stanley Gold this week also are holding a proxy conference about the upcoming vote at the March 3rd shareholders' meeting. It's been a newsy week, but the "hot" part of the week hasn't happened yet. It's wearisome, I know. But keep hangin' in there, folks, 'cause "the message being sent" is indeed getting through and is being acknowledged by Disney.:)

Very crafty to plan this successor thing for April... when the meeting's in March. Obvious much?

CarolKoster,
Well said, and I am in complete agreement. I read all the releases you mention, and it is obvious that, at the very least, Roy is a "distraction" to the WDC at present, somewhat of an upgrade from the gadly they had hoped to portray him as.:cool:

Originally posted by CarolKoster
Note also a comment from George Mitchell in the news story, that he at least has attended every Disney Board meeting while Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have not.

What many people don't know is that this is a moot point, for the most part. Directors of publicly owned companies are required to attend a certain percentage of board meetings, otherwise they're given the boot. The SEC understands that many directors are very busy with their own businesses, etc., and may not always be able to attend board meetings. However, in order to be a "good" director, they need to attend a certain number (if I recall correctly, it's 75%, but don't quote me on it). While it's great that Mitchell attends every meeting, it doesn't make a HUGE difference if Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have not...they receive the same materials that the attending board members would have received so that they are aware of what's transpired at the meeting(s) they missed.