Darkbeer
10-17-2004, 10:35 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/18/business/18ovitz.html
QuikQuote: Beyond the unflattering publicity sure to come as more depositions and documents of the seven-year-old case become public - along the lines of Mr. Ovitz's almost $2 million office renovation and $6,100 home X-ray machine - there are more substantial issues at stake. Disney's directors may find they were personally responsible for not carefully considering Mr. Ovitz's fitness for the job, and an insurance company may have to pay out the more than $200 million the plaintiffs are seeking.
According to an internal review sought by Disney in 1997, Mr. Ovitz spent $76,413 of the company's money for limousines and rental cars, $48,305 for a home screening room and $6,500 for Christmas tips. He also charged the company as much as $125 a person for food served at executive meetings at his house, an amount later reduced to $15 as he neared the end of his tenure. The bill for flowers for these breakfasts and dinners for the 14 months tallied $9,535. The company also paid for Mr. Ovitz's subscription to Playboy magazine.
QuikQuote: Beyond the unflattering publicity sure to come as more depositions and documents of the seven-year-old case become public - along the lines of Mr. Ovitz's almost $2 million office renovation and $6,100 home X-ray machine - there are more substantial issues at stake. Disney's directors may find they were personally responsible for not carefully considering Mr. Ovitz's fitness for the job, and an insurance company may have to pay out the more than $200 million the plaintiffs are seeking.
According to an internal review sought by Disney in 1997, Mr. Ovitz spent $76,413 of the company's money for limousines and rental cars, $48,305 for a home screening room and $6,500 for Christmas tips. He also charged the company as much as $125 a person for food served at executive meetings at his house, an amount later reduced to $15 as he neared the end of his tenure. The bill for flowers for these breakfasts and dinners for the 14 months tallied $9,535. The company also paid for Mr. Ovitz's subscription to Playboy magazine.