Post
by kgmadorin » May Fri 06, 2005 9:54 am
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.
Last edited by
kgmadorin on May Fri 06, 2005 10:09 am, edited 2 times in total.
"Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards--the things we live by and teach our children--are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings." -- Walter Elias Disney