Roy E & Stanley Gold Announce Reconciliation w/Disney Co

[erikthewise]

Read it for yourself at http://www.savedisney.com/

 

[bicker]

Glad that silliness is finally over.

 

[7thdwarf/dopey]

I just received this update via e-mail Eric. I'm happy to hear they have buried the hatchet and have decided to put their differences to the side. I hope it turns out for the best.

 

[Coach Rick]

Hmmm, I wonder if that 2.25% increase in the company stocks were due to that announcement. 55 cents up, pretty good increase. I'm just glad it's over, and there is a Disney in the fold again.

 

[DVCconvert]

Thank Christ.

I heard about this, this morning but until the PR was issued, I wasn't sure.

This IS good news for TWDC in my mind!

 

[reedycreek]

it will be good to have a disney family better back in the company again, and it was good for the stock price today. hopefully things will turn around at disney finally.

 

[bicker]

The agreement was announced after the stock market closed.

 

[reedycreek]

even better, cant wait for monday now!

 

[mitros]

The best news is that there is a Disney back on board once again. Let us hope and pray that this works out for the best.

 

[toddp3]

Glad that silliness is finally over.

Well... until the next bout of silliness comes along one would think. I hope their new arrangements work out, but that remains to be seen.

 

[ohanafamily]

Is it just me, or does somethng sound a little fishy...I would kind of like to know what sort of arrangement was made to get Roy to hop back on board. I read the e-mail, and I usually associate the word Ameritas with "Retired" and "Powerless". It looks like Roy was made to shut up to me...

here is the e-mail I got...

[font=Times New Roman, Times]Roy Disney and Walt Disney Co. Resolve Differences[/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica]JOINT STATEMENT FROM THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY AND ROY E. DISNEY AND STANLEY P. GOLD[/font]
​

[font=Verdana, Helvetica]BURBANK, Calif. (July 8, 2005) -- The Walt Disney Company, Roy E. Disney and Stanley P. Gold announced today that they have agreed to put aside the differences that have characterized their relationship over the past several years. Messrs. Disney and Gold have agreed not to run a rival slate of directors or submit shareholder resolutions for the next five years. Messrs. Disney and Gold have also agreed to dismiss all their pending lawsuits against the Company. In reestablishing ties with him and his family, the Company has named Roy E. Disney Director Emeritus and a consultant. The Company also reaffirmed its commitment to the rotation of committee members and chairpersons on its Board committees as currently required by the Company's Corporate Governance Guidelines. In putting aside their differences, the Company noted Mr. Disney's long time devotion to the Company and welcomed the reestablishment of a relationship with him and his family. Messrs. Disney and Gold expressed confidence in Mr. Iger's leadership, and as Mr. Eisner retires after 21 years with the Company, they acknowledged his contribution to the Company over the years.

[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica][/font]

 

[peter11435]

The agreement was announced after the stock market closed.

Thats why the stock is up an additional 1.84% in after hours trading.

 

[freediverdude]

What is up with this?? I kept reading on and on for the concession that the company made in order to get Roy to give up the lawsuits, and there didn't seem to be anything other than a title. I would like to know what really happened here. I hope that more information comes out, because something doesn't sound right here.

 

[JonetteA]

I agree with you Ohana Family, something is going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. I can't imagine that Roy and Stan settled for just this. The consultant part intrigues me...

 

[mitros]

Yea, when I received an e-mail from Save Disney.com, I thought it was an April fools joke, except IT AIN'T APRIL.
I agree that there is something else afoot here. I thought that Roy and Stan did not care much for Iger either.

 

[bicker]

I wonder if some of Roy Disney's and Gold's actions against the company were actionable (such as proprietary violations), and so what they were offered, in return for their pledge to give up their lawsuit, was a promise that they themselves wouldn't be sanctioned. It may be such that we'll never know.

 

[lenshanem]

Ya, I was very surprised. Something definitely went on behind the scenes. That email that was sent out almost irked me. NOW they think Iger is capable, NOW they say Eisner did a good job?!? UH? Sounds like they were given a deal to shut up and back track. I wonder if their site will now come down shortly, too?

Regardless, I'm glad a Disney is somewhat back in the company, I'm glad they did what they did to bring focus to the things that needed changing and now I think Iger is gonna have more eyes watching him so hopefully he'll do a good job.

 

[Laurajean1014]

This may be true. Save Disney are editorials. It's someone's opinion of an event that took place.

 

[freediverdude]

In my opinion, I don't think Roy or Stanley would be that concerned about a countersuit of some kind, to just drop everything and take whatever the company offered- that doesn't sound too plausible to me. They were too passionate about their cause, and they have plenty of money and can assemble a team of lawyers if needed. I think something else happened.
Two scenarios come to mind, and I'll share them with the boards, if everyone understands that these are NOT based on any facts, and that these are PURE SPECULATION on my part, so please don't take either of these as the truth, lol

The first scenario, which is the positive one, and the one I hope might be happening, is that Roy and Stan were given a behind-the-scenes deal to immediately stop the scandal. Which might make sense, given that the court recently approved the lawsuit to go forward, which might then cause the company to try to make a deal and stop this quickly before a trial starts. I would hope that this deal would include certain people resigning very quietly in the coming months, along with it becoming apparent that changes are being made, probably as a result of behind-the-scenes agreements between Roy and Mr. Iger. This would be a very positive scenario.

The negative scenario, that I don't even want to think about, but it did come to mind, was that the company was able to successfully blackmail with something, and/or threaten Roy and/or Stan, and/or their families. (Were there enough and/or's in there? hehe) This I would hope would not be the case, and I wouldn't think that it would be, but in today's society, it seems you never know. It's hard to shock me anymore. In this scenario, for public purposes, the company might then tell Roy that he was to be given that title and trotted out for display purposes at media events. This scenario would be very very sad, and of course I hope this isn't the one.

Well, those are a couple of scenarios that came to my mind. They're just pure speculation and not based on anything though. Anybody else have any more possible scenarios?

 

[erikthewise]

Much as I love being cynical, I can't help feeling optimistic about this story.

There may be more going on behind the scenes (ain't it fun to speculate?), but what if this is simply based on:
-- Roy E is tired of fighting a war that is no longer relevant, and justs wants to be on the inside looking out, regardless of how little power that actually gives him.
-- Bob Iger sees an opportunity for some positive karma and good publicity by making a couple of (relatively) harmless old men happy.

A sign of a good CEO is realizing such opportunities must not be lightly cast aside. (Especially if things are not going well in the Pixar negotiations.)

And maybe this is yet another sign that ME will not be pulling ALL the strings after Sept 1.