I'm Disgusted with Roy Disney

[tuggnutt]

I'm not going to write a truly long post at this time, but will briefly say that I'm very upset with Roy Disney. First, he garnered historical Shareholder, Cast Member and Fan support back in November of 2003 when he was unceremoniously asked to leave. We rallied around him by the thousands! Along with us, he pummelled Eisner, the board and had them reeling against the ropes in early 2004 after the Annual Shareholders meeting in Philadelphia. He kept up the pressure and even got huge pension fund managers to support his cause through the first part of the summer last year. Then he shocks us by pulling back and doing nothing to nominate an alternate slate of directors. Something I feel strongly would have shaken the ground of publicly traded companies, their useless boards and CEO's! He claimed the board and Eisner promised to conduct and enact a succession plan by June of this year. Thus, his retreat. He then wrote a letter to the board, and a separate letter to SaveDisney.com supporters that had him talking out of two sides of his mouth! On one hand he's saying he trusts an untrustworthy board to do what they say, then says he doesn't trust them as far as he can basically throw them! He lost an immense amount of my respect at that point last November. Just within the last few months, he and Gold filed lawsuits alleging fraud in the board elections and puts on the pressure again. It makes national news, and even though he already knows that Iger has been handed the position, pushes forward to have the elections declared invalid. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he and Gold withdraw the lawsuits, say they kissed and made up with the Board and Iger, and won't cause any trouble for 5 years! This is insulting and disgusting! What kind of backroom baloney is going on here?! The same board exists! The same weak leader of a fool in Iger exists! The same Cast discontent exists! And, nothing has or will change! No matter the 50th, no matter the fact that King Eisner will supposedly step down in September, the fact remains that the company stock still languishes, the moral and leadership sucks levels deep, and nothing will change! I'm disgusted with you Roy Disney! Ken

 

[mitros]

I had a lot of the same feelings that you did when I read the letter. However, I am going in with a wait and see attitude. Roy Disney IS back inside the company, and hopefully, he may be able to do something from that position, even though the title of "Emeritus" does not sound all that exciting. I never thought he would be able to do a lot being outside of the "loop" by not being "inside" the company while he was {is} running Save Disney.

 

[Feralpeg]

Something is rotten in Disney!

 

[DVCconvert]

tuggnutt


"I feel your pain"...however...this is no "idiot"...(btw Walt never said that)... there is a TON of stuff that will never be publicly released in this undertanding.
Is that good? well, I think so ( knowing more that I can reveal )...Roy was tired of the fight, but was/is open minded enough to let Iger have his chance.
I hope you can too. Bob is not an Ei$ner clone as expected -- time will tell and show that.

Despite the clueless here, Roy does in fact want the best for TWDC -- not that he personally needs it finacially, but rather emotionally. I will miss the savedisney site ALOT (scheduled to close on 8/7/05).

I know Roy. I love Roy for the vision and compassion that he has for TWDC. Legally he can not speak to the specifics of the agreement with TWDC -- but in my mind, it is a good agreement.

 

[Vikingknw]

Is that why he decided to participate in a yatch race rather then be at the festivities on the 17th in DL ?

 

[DVCconvert]

Is that why he decided to participate in a yatch race rather then be at the festivities on the 17th in DL ?

IF you examine his life long passions -- you'll find that that race is a "big one".


Here is the full press release:


A Message from Roy E. Disney...
To all the faithful visitors to our site here at SaveDisney:



First of all, please accept my most sincere thanks for your faith and trust in us, and for sticking with us through thick and thin during this campaign. You have been our biggest help in the tough times, and the good times... and there is no way to say "thank-you" any more sincerely than I do now.

It's been a while since last I wrote to you about how much nicer Disneyland has been looking lately, and as you probably know, a lot has happened in that time... maybe the single most important thing being that we here at SaveDisney have come to an agreement with the new management at the Walt Disney Company regarding our mutual relationship.

Accordingly, on August 7th, we will permanently close down this website... with regrets, of course, but also with the satisfaction that it has served its purpose... to inform and educate all of you about the future of the Disney legacy.

One result, which pleases me personally, and my family (which has endured these months alongside me), and of course Stanley Gold and many others here at Shamrock, is that I have been asked to rejoin the Company, as a Consultant, and as Director Emeritus, and to take part in whatever way I can help as a part of the Company, its art and its business. It is my intent to fully be a part of the Company again, to the best of my ability, and I can never fully describe what a joy it is that I will soon be re-connecting with so many friends - - from my past, from my present, and from my future.

There is so much more that can not be addressed here, but there are plenty of encouraging signs toward the future vision of the Walt Disney Company, visions that we share and have shared through these difficult times.

So for the moment, let me thank each of you and all of you for sharing your emotions and your ideas and your passion for what my Father and Uncle Walt created. Join with us as we enter into this new era, and its promise for a "great big, beautiful tomorrow."

On a purely personal note, I only hope than I can come close to living up to all your hopes and dreams, and maybe even play a part in creating some new dreams!

 

[tuggnutt]

DVC, You may know Roy and have some inside information that isn't being disseminated, but I feel sold out. If he really loves the company and it's history, he should have fought the fight to the end and nominated another board. It's bull that Iger is going to be given "His" chance. I along with thousands of stockholders, cast, and fans want to see a radical change in the company management. I've long said that the company needs to eliminate 5 levels of management to eradicate the political, *** kissing, moronic people who have infected the ranks of the company. Just because the 50th is upon us, the economy is better, and Eisner is about to leave doesn't mean this ship has turned. Far from it! The bad culture is entrenched and fills the ranks with reactive, less talented individuals. I could go on and on. Ken

 

[DVCconvert]

but I feel sold out. If he really loves the company and it's history, he should have fought the fight to the end and nominated another board. It's bull that Iger is going to be given "His" chance.

I do truely "feel your pain" tug -- but alot of those "classes" of people do have real hopes for Bob..based on his actions todate.

 

[ralphd]

Sometimes you can do more good on the inside advocating change, than on the outside throwing rocks trying to get attention. The dissention was not going to be good for Disney in the long run.

 

[Drcell01]

It all comes down to two words...

SHAREHOLDER VALUE

I was at the shareholder meeting in Philadelphia last year. It was not a pretty sight!

Just look at what has happened to the price of Disney stock since this anouncement was made...this is really a good thing and a "Disney" is once again on the board of directors.

Better days at Disney are just ahead of us.

 

[freediverdude]

Well if there is more of an agreement between Roy and the company, aren't the stockholders entitled to know what it is? All this directly affects them, even though the agreement was between Roy and company to stop the lawsuit, this is a big event that affects the stock price and possibly will affect the company's performance and stock performance in the years to come. I feel at least the stockholders are entitled to know what the real agreement is (and I'm not a stockholder by the way).

 

[Mike_Sanders]

Sometimes a person does what he has to do.

 

[manning]

To those who would like to see the fight continue, as the song says


The party's over.

Time to fold up the tent and go home.

 

[raidermatt]

Yes, Roy's fight had run its course. It was done and everybody knew it.

Sure, he's back on the board, but as I understand it, without voting power. If he couldn't make headway WITH voting power, clearly he'll be nothing but ceremonial without it. Plus, it appears that Stanley is still out.

Roy is not back in his ceremonial role because he believes in Bob. He's back because he knew he could accomplish nothing more, and he used the lawsuit to "encourage" the company to at least let him back in the door.

The SaveDisney movement did accomplish more than many expected, but at the same time, it fell short of what many had hoped it would accomplish.

 

[Peter Pirate]

I don't know Matt, I think Roy must at least have some faith in Bob, certanly more than Eisner because I seriously doubt he would have accepted any olive branch from him. Just the fact that he's willing to be a part of this team, no matter what the degree says something, doesn't it?

 

[raidermatt]

Let's face it Pete, in the context of this situation, Eisner was the ultimate in evil for Roy. Clearly a lot of it involved personal grudges and egos.

So sure, he's more willing to be involved with the company under Iger than under Eisner. But that's not saying much at all. There just wasn't anything else Roy could do. Or at least that he was willing to do. So, he could either fade away in corporate exile, or make peace while he could and still claim some measure of victory.

This has much more to do with Eisner being gone than with Iger staying.

 

[raidermatt]

Just to clarify, this in not meant to be an indictment of Iger. I have my personal opinions, sure, but what I'm saying here is that Roy's return shouldn't be read in anyway as an endorsement of Iger.

 

[mitros]

OK guys, I have mentioned this in other posts also, but are we really sure Ei$ner is actually going to leave in September? If Iger was hand picked by Ei$ner, does it not stand to reason that Iger "owes" Mikey something? The corporate world is, after all, a mirror of politics to a certain extent, isn't it? As soon as a politician {of ANY party} gets into any position of power, he moves right along and gives political jobs to the people close to them that helped him get elected, no?

 

[raidermatt]

Am I sure? No, but I think enough has happened to make keeping Eisner on in any sort of real role extremely risky. Plus, I'm not sure Eisner's ego would allow him to be anything but top dog at Disney. Probably wouldn't stop him from collecting a check or stock options for doing nothing, though. (and certainly he wouldn't be alone...)

So while I'm not going to say I'm 100% sure about this, I am going to assume he is gone in September until we hear something to the contrary.

 

[manning]

As Igers track record is getting established (if good) Eisners powers will fade away. Giving up the reins he has given up a degree of power.