Goofyposter
Director of Farmland Defense
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2001
- Messages
- 2,388
To see text from the letter Eisner sent to the Board annoucing his retirement, CLICK HERE
Could this have been Eisner's first draft of that letter?
DRAFT # 1
September 9, 2004
As we approach the end of the fiscal year and my 20th anniversary as CEO, I would like to share with you some personal observations about my Company. You have been honored and proud that Ive been your Chief Executive Officer of this company for this length of time. Let me touch on what I have accomplished, what I want to do, and some of my personal plans.
Putting last things first, (as I so often do) I plan to retire upon the conclusion of the term of my extortion agreement on September 30, 2006. Until then I shall continue to exert some effort to make the company achieve my goals, to compel the Board in selecting my choice for new Chief Executive Officer, and to make the transition generally go my way.
As to our current performance, I am and should be proud of how I have managed the Company during difficult times. I won't repeat the detailed facts and figures which we have discussed or the comments made by me in the conference call to the financial community in August which I have already sent to you. Because as you know that was all mostly hogwash anyways.
I have been told by you, by friends, and outside observers, that it is quite extraordinary that I have been able to remain focused on my objectives and have managed to run the Company so well amidst the distractions that have taken huge chunks of time during the past several years. I never prior to this realized the full majesty of my own greatness.
Disney's management team has proved its devotion to me and has taken advice my advice whenever offered. In the midst of a distraction , when I was asked how I kept my cool when the stockholders go crazy, hollering and hooting every time I cut myself another raise, I explained: "I keep my eyes on my wallet". Our executive team has been diverted from the task of creating intellectual product, efficiently running the Company, to a full time effort in preparing for my financial future.
I know it has been a very challenging time for the Board members during this period, and I am most grateful for the inattention, negligence and lack of fiduciary duty, that all of you have demonstrated.
Most of you were not part of the Company as I grew it and made it prosper, since Frank Wells and I came aboard in September 1984. Statistics only tell part of the story, but let me throw out a few: Total number of employees - from 28,000 to 117,000; Revenues from $1.7 Billion to a projection of roughly $30 Billion for this fiscal year; Enterprise Value from $2.8 Billion to $57 Billion. These numbers are due in large part to the fact that I have perfected the accounting slight of hand, and found new and creative ways to make train wrecks appear as rainbows (got to love imagineering eh?).
My major acquisition, CapCities/ABC, in January 1996, was perhaps the worse decision I ever allowed an underling make. As soon as I recall who that was, heads will roll! In the mean time owning a network broadcast outlet made me feel really good and it was a lot of fun calling up friends on a Saturday afternoon and asking them what movie theyd like shown that night on TV!
Along the way, I have well rewarded myself for my efforts and my performance. I have reinvested a substantial portion of those proceeds into Disney stock (14 million shares). That and my megabucks golden parachute are the incentive to not do the right thing and leave now.
We are different from other companies. We are a creative company. We must consider, develop, discard and reconsider, literally masses of ideas each day, based on few inexact criteria, using experience, talent, judgment, instinct, and hope as our guides along with our education and experience and sense of fiscal responsibility to me. This is a complicated and risky process, unlike the manufacture and sale of a single or related line of product. We are judged by definitive standards. But it is the creative that pushes my bank account to new heights that which can be measured, that which has lasting value to personal wealth and ego.
I believe you have learned who I am, and who I am not; what I do best, and what I don't. Of course, that does not mean you force me to stagnate into a museum or play safe. It just means I play smarter than the board or investors. There have been so many opportunities available to utilize core assets, brands and capabilities around the world to my advantage. You must act as if you are completely informed and involved in the future, in new technologies that can help us maintain our leadership in creating and distributing and protecting our content. You must not forget that you, the board, are always singing and dancing 'for my supper'.
Having just returned from an Albert Einstein conference at the Aspen Institute, {which was a nice junket} I am struck by the similarities between us. Two Geniuses who both like latkes and who share a commitment to creativity. "Imagination is more important than knowledge." is what I told them.
I expect Ill take a lot of criticism over the next two years. But, this time is critical to fleshing out of my 401K, and I must take advantage of the positive projections we throw out, in order to obtain bonuses and raises within this period. The momentum has changed. But in a sense, it is harder to manage a Company in a fictitious success than in open failure. You now have to continue the teamwork that marked the last couple of years. We have to maintain that spirit as my spotlight will find us more and more in the circle of our own wagons.
It has been fantastic to ride Disney for the past twenty years. Ups and downs to be sure, but filled with great satisfaction in building my personal wealth. My attention to Disney will never retire, I look forward to becoming a vocal stockholder in exile. And, like our campaign, suggested by Jane in 1986 that seems to resonate for so many, I can only conclude by telling you what I am doing next.
"I'm going to Disneys California Adventure!"
Sincerely,
Michael Elias Ei$ner
Could this have been Eisner's first draft of that letter?
DRAFT # 1
September 9, 2004
As we approach the end of the fiscal year and my 20th anniversary as CEO, I would like to share with you some personal observations about my Company. You have been honored and proud that Ive been your Chief Executive Officer of this company for this length of time. Let me touch on what I have accomplished, what I want to do, and some of my personal plans.
Putting last things first, (as I so often do) I plan to retire upon the conclusion of the term of my extortion agreement on September 30, 2006. Until then I shall continue to exert some effort to make the company achieve my goals, to compel the Board in selecting my choice for new Chief Executive Officer, and to make the transition generally go my way.
As to our current performance, I am and should be proud of how I have managed the Company during difficult times. I won't repeat the detailed facts and figures which we have discussed or the comments made by me in the conference call to the financial community in August which I have already sent to you. Because as you know that was all mostly hogwash anyways.
I have been told by you, by friends, and outside observers, that it is quite extraordinary that I have been able to remain focused on my objectives and have managed to run the Company so well amidst the distractions that have taken huge chunks of time during the past several years. I never prior to this realized the full majesty of my own greatness.
Disney's management team has proved its devotion to me and has taken advice my advice whenever offered. In the midst of a distraction , when I was asked how I kept my cool when the stockholders go crazy, hollering and hooting every time I cut myself another raise, I explained: "I keep my eyes on my wallet". Our executive team has been diverted from the task of creating intellectual product, efficiently running the Company, to a full time effort in preparing for my financial future.
I know it has been a very challenging time for the Board members during this period, and I am most grateful for the inattention, negligence and lack of fiduciary duty, that all of you have demonstrated.
Most of you were not part of the Company as I grew it and made it prosper, since Frank Wells and I came aboard in September 1984. Statistics only tell part of the story, but let me throw out a few: Total number of employees - from 28,000 to 117,000; Revenues from $1.7 Billion to a projection of roughly $30 Billion for this fiscal year; Enterprise Value from $2.8 Billion to $57 Billion. These numbers are due in large part to the fact that I have perfected the accounting slight of hand, and found new and creative ways to make train wrecks appear as rainbows (got to love imagineering eh?).
My major acquisition, CapCities/ABC, in January 1996, was perhaps the worse decision I ever allowed an underling make. As soon as I recall who that was, heads will roll! In the mean time owning a network broadcast outlet made me feel really good and it was a lot of fun calling up friends on a Saturday afternoon and asking them what movie theyd like shown that night on TV!
Along the way, I have well rewarded myself for my efforts and my performance. I have reinvested a substantial portion of those proceeds into Disney stock (14 million shares). That and my megabucks golden parachute are the incentive to not do the right thing and leave now.
We are different from other companies. We are a creative company. We must consider, develop, discard and reconsider, literally masses of ideas each day, based on few inexact criteria, using experience, talent, judgment, instinct, and hope as our guides along with our education and experience and sense of fiscal responsibility to me. This is a complicated and risky process, unlike the manufacture and sale of a single or related line of product. We are judged by definitive standards. But it is the creative that pushes my bank account to new heights that which can be measured, that which has lasting value to personal wealth and ego.
I believe you have learned who I am, and who I am not; what I do best, and what I don't. Of course, that does not mean you force me to stagnate into a museum or play safe. It just means I play smarter than the board or investors. There have been so many opportunities available to utilize core assets, brands and capabilities around the world to my advantage. You must act as if you are completely informed and involved in the future, in new technologies that can help us maintain our leadership in creating and distributing and protecting our content. You must not forget that you, the board, are always singing and dancing 'for my supper'.
Having just returned from an Albert Einstein conference at the Aspen Institute, {which was a nice junket} I am struck by the similarities between us. Two Geniuses who both like latkes and who share a commitment to creativity. "Imagination is more important than knowledge." is what I told them.
I expect Ill take a lot of criticism over the next two years. But, this time is critical to fleshing out of my 401K, and I must take advantage of the positive projections we throw out, in order to obtain bonuses and raises within this period. The momentum has changed. But in a sense, it is harder to manage a Company in a fictitious success than in open failure. You now have to continue the teamwork that marked the last couple of years. We have to maintain that spirit as my spotlight will find us more and more in the circle of our own wagons.
It has been fantastic to ride Disney for the past twenty years. Ups and downs to be sure, but filled with great satisfaction in building my personal wealth. My attention to Disney will never retire, I look forward to becoming a vocal stockholder in exile. And, like our campaign, suggested by Jane in 1986 that seems to resonate for so many, I can only conclude by telling you what I am doing next.
"I'm going to Disneys California Adventure!"
Sincerely,
Michael Elias Ei$ner
