Subsonic Radio

Sunday March 13, 3:54 AM EST
By Merissa Marr and Mylene Mangalinden
Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) board is soon expected to name President Robert Iger as its new chief executive, according to a person familiar with the situation. Mr. Iger would succeed longtime chief Michael Eisner, who has announced plans to step down.

Continued at My Way

Roy Disney doesn't seem to care for Iger, seeing that he's Eisner's protege. Unfortunately, Iger's prior comments would indicate that he's of a similar mindset as Eisner, only perhaps a bit more hapless. Time will tell, but at the very least, we should expect nothing worse than the status quo, at least I hope that's the case.

I signed the email to not elect Iger at Save Disney. You all should too:

http://www.savedisney.com/contact/email ... uid=757358

I signed it, but I fear it's too little, too late.

Not only will Disney continue to be a profit machine, but now they're going to try to do it more efficiently according to a comment from Iger.

Frankly, I don't want an efficient experience at Disney.

While I will wait to see what he actually does before I judge him, I dont like the feeling I have been getting. Mind you I think some things have been improved on at the parks, but a lot needs help (I am talking about SGE among other things.) As for Iger's work at ABC well this is a bit overrated, dont expect these shows to hold on forever, I personally cant wait until LOST jumps the shark and starts calling itself FOUND.

Jack

I heard that both Desperate Housewives and Lost were the brainchilds of creative talents that Iger fired last year.

If that's not indicative of his misdirection, I don't know what is.

I guess only time will tell how Iger will be

Looks like Wall Street likes the nomination.. don't know if thats a good or a bad thing....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... ney_ceo_41

Just have to wait and see.


Rich

This maybe stupid, but who really owns Disney?

Well I hope to see good progress from this guy.

borjoyzee wrote:This maybe stupid, but who really owns Disney?

Well I hope to see good progress from this guy.

Its not a stupid question, I too have wondered why Roy E. Disney, with the last name DISNEY does not have more power than he does. I do not know all the intricate workings of the BOD & shareholders, stockholders, etc. , and all that jazz. I wrote Roy a letter on Save Disney, but never got a response, which is to be expected, he can't answer all of them. I just wish he and the family could take back the company and start from scratch. I would think the stockholders/shareholders (they are probably the same thing ) would rather Roy take the helm. But that is just my opinion.

As a public entitiy traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Disney Company is owned by its shareholders. The largest individual insider shareholders are as follows:

DISNEY, ROY E. shares = 16,510,280
EISNER, MICHAEL D. shares = 13,954,813
MURPHY, THOMAS S. shares = 1,628,508
IGER, ROBERT A. shares = 127,897
STAGGS, THOMAS O. shares = 98,134

Those numbers may seem large, but they are relatively small when compared to the top institutional shareholders:

Barclays Bank Plc shares = 91,880,047
FMR Corporation (Fidelity Management & Research Corp) shares = 75,297,348
Citigroup Inc. shares = 72,611,802
State Street Corporation shares = 66,991,872
Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. shares = 53,551,100
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co shares = 42,353,018

So, what does all this mean? Even though Roy Disney is the largest insider shareholder, he doesn't have enough clout to force changes soley based on his stock interest, which ammounts to less than 1% of the total shares outstanding. Because he was forced off the board of directors, the only real power Roy has is his name. That's why he has started "Save Disney," because he doesn't have any other way to fight. He knows that people have an emotional connection to his family name, so by garnering public support he hopes to put pressure on the board. It seems to have worked to some extent, citing Michael Eisner's decision to give up the helm.

My only hope is that Bob Iger understands that he is continuing Walt's vision, something I think Michael Eisner may have lost sight of in recent years. Though Iger or Eisner or someone else may run the organization, it will always be Walt's company. Hopefully they feel his presence and understand that Walt established certain core values that are timeless and cannot be sacrificed or changed if the Disney Company is to survive.

kgmadorin wrote:My only hope is that Bob Iger understands that he is continuing Walt's vision, something I think Michael Eisner may have lost sight of in recent years. Though Iger or Eisner or someone else may run the organization, it will always be Walt's company. Hopefully they feel his presence and understand that Walt established certain core values that are timeless and cannot be sacrificed or changed if the Disney Company is to survive.

Let's hope he can steer this ship back in the familar waters Walt sailed it in.

Forgot one...

Club33Hopeful 400 shares

Club33Hopeful wrote:Forgot one...

Club33Hopeful 400 shares

BWAHAHAHAHA! That's classic!!

kgmadorin, thank you for the info. But what can WE do. I go on SaveDisney.com and sign petitions and send e-mails and letters when Roy asks us to. But it seems like there should be more WE the general public could do. Monitarily speaking I can't do diddly, but what can I do in other ways to help insure change?

Club33hopefull, that was priceless! Congrats on those 400 shares, I might have to get me some!

Thanks,
Claudia

bostoncg wrote:Club33hopefull, that was priceless! Congrats on those 400 shares, I might have to get me some!

I bought those just so I could voice my displeasure before last year's big revolt, the '04 annual shareholder's meeting. I think I am going to start buying some each quarter. Then who knows, someday I will have 1% of what Roy has