Trouble in the 'Magic Kingdom': Governance Problems at Disney



Case Details Case Introduction 1 Case Introduction 2 Case Excerpts

<< Previous

Disney Directors Resign

At the end of November 2003, Roy Disney (Roy), the vice chairman of the Walt Disney Company (Disney) and the chairman of its animation department, resigned from the company.Roy was the nephew of Walt Disney (Walt), the founder of Disney, and last surviving member of the Disney family to work at the company. Holding over 17 million shares, he was the company's largest individual stockholder and served on the board of directors.

Roy's resignation was said to be prompted by the information that he would not be nominated to the board in the following year. This was because according to the new corporate governance norms adopted by Disney in 2002, he was past the maximum age limit to be a director of the company. Roy, who had served the company throughout his life in various capacities, preferred to avoid such an ignominious exit and chose to resign voluntarily.....

Business Ethics Case Studies | Case Study in Management, Operations, Strategies, Business Ethics, Case Studies
or
Business Ethics Case Studies | Case Study in Management, Operations, Strategies, Business Ethics, Case Studies
or
PayPal (7 USD)

Close on the heels of Roy's resignation came the resignation of Stanley Gold (Gold), an investment banker, who was also a director at Disney. Both men wrote lengthy resignation letters outlining their reasons for leaving the company.They laid the major portion of the blame on Disney's CEO and chairman,4 Michael Eisner (Eisner) who, they alleged, did not run the company in accordance with the principles of good governance. They also expressed concern that bad governance would put the future of the company at risk, unless drastic changes were made....

Background Note- Next Page>>