Disney 最高の，を越す man 直面するs 投資家s' wrath

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated: 00:00 BST, 3 March 2004

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WEAPONS of Mouse 破壊 are pointed at Disney's 戦闘の準備を整えた chairman and 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のある, Michael Eisner, as he 長，率いるs for the company's 年次の 会合 in the ironically dubbed City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, today.

Very few people have shown Eisner any love in the past few days as 怒った 株主s have taken turns to castigate his 業績／成果 in running the $27 (£14.4bn) 商売／仕事 over the past few years.

Their 目的（とする） may be true but Eisner cannot be 投票（する）d out of a 職業 at the 会合. He is 反対者のない and therefore just a 選び出す／独身 'for' 投票（する） 保証するs him of continuing - but if, as 広範囲にわたって 推定する／予想するd, some 30% of 株主s 保留する their 投票（する）s it will send a no-信用／信任 message and may 軍隊 the board to 行為／法令／行動する.

A much talked-about シナリオ is that Eisner will step aside as chairman but will stay on as 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のある.

Eisner probably feels hard done by. There cannot be many 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のあるs who 怒り／怒る 株主s while 報告（する）／憶測ing a 株 price almost 二塁打d in the past 52 weeks and 利益（をあげる）s in the most 最近の ４半期/4分の1 at $688m, up from $256m the year before.

にもかかわらず 2003 存在 a 復帰 year financially for Disney and its 株主s, a combination of events has turned disgruntled mumblings into out-and-out 反乱.

不満 with Eisner is not a new 現象 - with no ファンファーレ／誇示, 8% of 株主s withheld their support last year.

This year the 不満 has become more fiery. The flashpoint was when the last Disney on the board, Walt's 甥 Roy, やめる in November. The 74-year-old former 長，率いる of 活気／アニメーション did not 屈服する out gracefully. In a three-page letter, he castigated Eisner for his leadership in the past seven of his 19 years of running the company.

Roy Disney wrote that Eisner had started 井戸／弁護士席 after taking the 舵輪／支配 in 1984. But in the past few years, 取得／買収s such as the floundering ABC Television 網状組織s and sports teams such as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim ice-ホッケー 味方する, 同様に as lacklustre movies, had turned the company into one that is 'rapacious, soulless, and always looking for the quick buck rather than the long-称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 value, which is 主要な to a loss of public 信用'.

Diatribe too late

HE wrote: 'It is my sincere belief that it is you who should be leaving and not me. Accordingly, I once again call for your 辞職 or 退職.'

分析家s （人命などを）奪う，主張するd Roy's diatribe was a couple of years too late. They argued that Eisner was 絶縁するd as 2003 証明するd to be a respectable year. 主題 park 出席 had 回復するd from the 地位，任命する-9/11 低迷. Disney 分配するd two of the year's 最高の，を越す-甚だしい／１２ダースing films, Pixar-produced Finding Nemo and homegrown 著作権侵害者s of the Caribbean.

Even ABC managed to produce a couple of entertaining new shows, 含むing 8 Simple 支配するs for Dating My Teenage Daughter - and its other TV 所有物／資産／財産, ESPN, was the undoubted leader in sports TV and a cash cow.

Those 専門家s underestimated the 憤慨 felt by 株主s. Certainly, 2003 利益（をあげる）s rose to $1.3bn, but that was $200m いっそう少なく than in 1996. The 在庫／株 price had 二塁打d in the year, but over the previous five years it had lost nearly 25% in value - 井戸／弁護士席 underperforming the S&P 500 （判断の）基準 普通の／平均（する）.

While 株主s have felt the 苦痛, Eisner has pocketed an 概算の $700m in salary and 特別手当 since 1996, によれば Roy Disney.

Those with a long, angry 見解（をとる） of what was happening in the 魔法 Kingdom were emboldened by the （選挙などの）運動をする to 追い出す Eisner by Roy Disney and fellow director Stanley Gold, who やめる in 抗議する. The 二人組 開始する，打ち上げるd the website www.savedisney.com to spread their message that the Mouseketeer in 長，指導者 must go. Their 事例／患者 was 強化するd by two events.

A 決定／判定勝ち（する） to の近くに an 活気／アニメーション studio in Orlando, Florida, was a を刺す at the creative heart of the company and 支えるd their （人命などを）奪う，主張するs that Eisner was no longer 利益／興味d in creativity, only 利益（をあげる）.

A 決定／判定勝ち（する） by computer 活気／アニメーション specialist and Toy Story creator Pixar to end its 関係 with Disney 証明するd Eisner cannot manage and 養育する important 関係s, they said.

The rumour on why Pixar is searching for a new 配当 company is that Eisner and Pixar's chairman and 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のある, Steve 職業s, locked horns 最初 over internet music downloads. Eisner …に反対するs the 科学（工学）技術 but downloads have given a 上げる to 職業s' other company, Apple Computer. Their egos never 許すd 親善.

Then last month （機の）カム the shock news that the US's biggest cable TV company, Comcast, was 開始する，打ち上げるing a $54bn 引き継ぎ／買収 企て，努力，提案 for Disney. In a jab at Eisner, Comcast 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のある Brian Roberts said one 目的（とする） was to 回復する the Disney brand to prominence and the company to growth.

Comcast's 企て，努力，提案 （機の）カム after Eisner 辞退するd to 持つ／拘留する 私的な 会談 with the cable 巨大（な）, which 認めるs it is much more 利益／興味d in Disney's TV and film content than its 主題 parks. Comcast, based only three 封鎖するs from the 3,000-seater 条約 Centre where today's 会合 is taking place, is a leader in ビデオ-on-需要・要求する 科学（工学）技術 but is struggling to find 製品s. Acquiring Disney programming and sports events 経由で ESPN would be a godsend.

Direct 活動／戦闘

DISCUSSION of the possible 引き継ぎ／買収 has moved to the 支援する burner as 利益／興味d parties 焦点（を合わせる） on the 年次の 会合, 特に as it is 一般に agreed that Comcast will have to sweeten its 申し込む／申し出.

While Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have fanned the emotional 炎上s to try to immolate Eisner, direct 活動／戦闘 by 株主 groups has 傷つける him most.

Calpers, the California Public 従業員s 退職 System, which is the nation's largest public 年金 基金 with 資産s of about $165bn and is a leader of 株主 advocacy, slammed Disney for its 欠如（する） of return on 投資 over the past five years.

Even a personal 外見 at Calpers by Eisner the day before could not stop Sean Harrigan, 大統領，／社長 of the 年金 基金's board of 行政, from 明言する／公表するing: 'We have lost 完全にする 信用／信任 in Mr Eisner's 戦略の 見通し and leadership in creating 株主 value in the company.'

平等に damning to Calpers was that Disney's audit 委員会 authorised auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers to 成し遂げる an indeterminate 量 of 非，不，無-audit services such as 税金 examination 援助 and other services regarding 内部の 支配（する）／統制するs.

Such 衝突-of-利益／興味 work has been 大部分は wiped out in large c ompanies に引き続いて the スキャンダルs at Enron, Worldcom and the like.

Along with Calpers, about a dozen 抱擁する public 年金 基金s across the country have said they are going to 保留する support for Eisner. To 嘆願d his 事例／患者, Eisner appeared on CNN's Larry King Live show to tout his 記録，記録的な／記録する and to say he does not want to leave.

Disney has hurriedly put together a newspaper 広告 （選挙などの）運動をする featuring Mickey Mouse, ESPN and Kermit the Frog with the caption: 'Our 未来 is in good 手渡すs.' But at today's 会合 in Philadelphia, the city in which the 宣言 of Independence was made in 1776, many 株主s will 宣言する themselves 独立した・無所属 of a man they say is a self-serving (n)役員／(a)執行力のある.