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For a Diplomat, Task Is Quelling Disney's Unrest
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Candidate
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| Contributor | User 13 |
| Last Edited | User 13 Mar 05, 2004 11:39am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - New York Times |
| News Date | Friday, March 5, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | George J. Mitchell, who has just assumed one of the most challenging jobs in corporate America as chairman of the embattled Walt Disney Company, will need all of his skills as a negotiator to win over disgruntled shareholders.
Mr. Mitchell, 70, a former United States senator who has little business experience, said in a telephone interview yesterday that he had no desire to play the corporate strategist, as many chairmen do. Instead, he sees his main job as negotiating among factions of unhappy investors, other board members and Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive who lost the chairman's title in the wake of a resounding no-confidence vote at the company's shareholder meeting on Wednesday.
How well Mr. Mitchell fares could determine the fate not only of Mr. Eisner's nearly 20-year reign but of Disney itself. In addition to the shareholder revolt, Disney is the target of a hostile takeover bid by the Comcast Corporation, the country's largest cable operator.
For now, Mr. Mitchell, who was the presiding director of Disney's board until Wednesday night's appointment, said he was not planning on finding a successor for Mr. Eisner, as dissident investors have demanded. And Mr. Eisner said in an interview that he did not plan to leave anytime soon.
Instead, Mr. Mitchell said he would ensure that the board looked after the best interests of the shareholders. "Our loyalty is not to management," said Mr. Mitchell, who helped broker a peace agreement in Northern Ireland in the 1990's. "We will organize both the management and policies to maximize shareholder value in the short and long term."
Mr. Mitchell's appointment is not sitting well with many of the investors crusading to change Disney management nor with corporate governance experts. They complained that not only does Mr. Mitchell have negligible corporate experience, but they say he is too closely allied to Mr. Eisner and his appointment does little to address investor discontent with Mr. Eisner's ma |
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