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News > Save Disney founders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold withhold
vote for all Walt Disney Company directors
Disney News
Press Release
Save Disney founders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold withhold vote for
all Walt Disney Company directors
Disney and Gold say they have not conducted campaign to ask other
shareholders to do same
Roy E. Disney and Stanley P. Gold today issued the following statement
on their vote at the 2005 Disney Company Annual Meeting:
Our voting decision at the 2005 Disney Annual Meeting rests on one
question - Has the Disney Board adequately addressed the issues that
resulted in the unprecedented vote of "No Confidence" at last
year's annual meeting?
The Board has adopted a number of policies since March, 2004. The litmus
test, however, as to whether this Board has truly reformed itself is
how it conducts and implements the search for Mr. Eisner's successor.
We are waiting to see whether this Board has the independence and dedication
to its stockholders to conduct an open and honest search for a new leader
with the vision and creativity to meet the challenges ahead - a person
who will become only the sixth leader of Disney, a true icon of American
business and culture. At this point in time, the Board's credibility
is in question due to reports that they have yet to interview a single
outside candidate. Potential candidates, meanwhile, are indicating a
lack of interest in the position because of delays in the search process
and the uncertainty regarding when Mr. Eisner will leave the Company.
The Board has set a deadline of June 2005 to select a successor. Until
we see that this Board has faithfully discharged its duties in this
most critical of Board functions, and that Mr. Eisner steps down as
CEO and as a member of the Board upon the culmination of the process
in June, we are WITHHOLDING our vote at the 2005 Disney Annual Meeting
for all members of the Disney Board. We have not conducted a campaign
to ask other shareholders to do the same.
Lest there be any confusion, by withholding our vote, we are doing
precisely that, no more and no less. We are withholding our vote because
we are withholding final judgment. In recent months, the Board has been
saying the right words. We now await its actions.
