WILMINGTON, Del. (Dow Jones)--Walt Disney Co. (DIS) shareholders are asking a Delaware court to assess damages of more than $262 million against some current and former members of the company's board of directors for allegedly bungling the hiring and firing of Michael Ovitz, president of the company for a brief period in the mid-1990's.
The figure - $129.8 million in damages plus $132.5 million in interest - was tallied in a brief filed late Sunday, which summarized the suing shareholders' view of the evidence produced in a lengthy trial held in Delaware's Chancery Court beginning in October 2003.
Reply briefs from the Disney directors are due in 30 days.
Ovitz, a high-powered Hollywood talent agent, was recruited to serve as second-in-command to his friend Michael Eisner, chief executive of the entertainment company.
He left after about 14 months and collected "no-fault" severance pay of $38.9 million and options valued at $90.9 million as of the date they vested.
Shareholders filed a derivative lawsuit - one seeking damages in the name of the company - accusing Disney's directors of abdicating their duties to safeguard the company's interests in dealing with Ovitz.
The directors deny wrongdoing, and say they headed off an expensive lawsuit by giving Ovitz the no-fault separation.
If Chancellor William Chandler finds Disney's directors breached fiduciary duties in connection with Ovitz's brief tenure, the damages bill must include the hefty interest component, attorneys for suing shareholders say in the post- trial brief.
-By Peg Brickley, Dow Jones Newswires; 302-656-8830; peg.brickley@dowjones.com
Dow Jones Newswires
03-07-05 1624ET
© 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The figure - $129.8 million in damages plus $132.5 million in interest - was tallied in a brief filed late Sunday, which summarized the suing shareholders' view of the evidence produced in a lengthy trial held in Delaware's Chancery Court beginning in October 2003.
Reply briefs from the Disney directors are due in 30 days.
Ovitz, a high-powered Hollywood talent agent, was recruited to serve as second-in-command to his friend Michael Eisner, chief executive of the entertainment company.
He left after about 14 months and collected "no-fault" severance pay of $38.9 million and options valued at $90.9 million as of the date they vested.
Shareholders filed a derivative lawsuit - one seeking damages in the name of the company - accusing Disney's directors of abdicating their duties to safeguard the company's interests in dealing with Ovitz.
The directors deny wrongdoing, and say they headed off an expensive lawsuit by giving Ovitz the no-fault separation.
If Chancellor William Chandler finds Disney's directors breached fiduciary duties in connection with Ovitz's brief tenure, the damages bill must include the hefty interest component, attorneys for suing shareholders say in the post- trial brief.
-By Peg Brickley, Dow Jones Newswires; 302-656-8830; peg.brickley@dowjones.com
Dow Jones Newswires
03-07-05 1624ET
© 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
