Abstract

Walt Disney is the world’’s leading entertainment company. It has recently found itself in rough waters as a boardroom brawl has erupted. Roy E Disney Jr, the last director from the founding Disney family has been asked to resign. Roy E has been highly critical of CEO Michael Eisner, who he feels was the main reason for Disney’’s poor performance in recent times. Roy E’’s ally, Stanley Gold has also resigned from the board to protest against the ouster. With these events attracting wide publicity, Eisner’’s track record has come for a critical examination. The Corporate Library, a prestigious firm that rates boards and directors for institutional investors, has ranked Disney’’s board as one of the ten worst among 1,800 US public companies. To complicate matters further, Comcast has announced a bid for Disney. With Eisner’’s performance under attack, the board has decided to relieve him of his post as chairman. Eisner, however, remains the CEO. This case deals with the board conflicts Walt Disney face and how the company is addressing them.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

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Keywords

Walt Disney, Corporate governance, Crisis, Board problems, Entertainment, Disney, Disney brothers, Eisner, Executive education case study, MBA case study