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 Business News | February 2005 
Disney Directors Win Re-Election
 Harry Berkowitz - Newsday.com
 One year after a protest vote dominated the Walt Disney Co. annual meeting, shareholders were much kinder Friday amid signs of improvement and reform in the Magic Kingdom.
In voting for board members, shareholders withheld only 7.8 percent of votes from Michael Eisner as they met in Minneapolis , compared with 45 percent withheld last year in Philadelphia.
After the earlier vote, which protested his management record and corporate governance issues, the board stripped Eisner of his chairman title and he said he would retire as chief executive in 2006.
Chairman George Mitchell addressed critics' concerns that the board is leaning toward chief operating officer Robert Iger as the new chief executive, saying outside candidates are also being considered and interviewed.
"We approach this decision in good faith with open minds," Mitchell said. "There has been no prior determination."
Shareholders withheld 6.9 percent of votes from Mitchell, versus 26 percent last year.
Eisner reiterated that Disney will retain ownership of Miramax Films and continue to produce "independent films" even if its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, leave the company after their contracts expire Sept. 30. "They're not getting it," he said.
He also said "Toy Story 3," a sequel to films previously produced by Pixar Animation, will be produced and released by Disney in Summer 2008 even though Pixar's partnership with Disney is ending next year.
"It's a very exciting story," he said. |
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