Well, at least now we know why Walt’s nephew didn’t sound all that encouraging when it came to him possibly making an appearance at Disneyland’s official rededication ceremony on July 17th.
Yesterday, Roy Disney & Stanley Gold filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court against the Walt Disney Company. To be specific, Roy & Stanley singled out eight members of Disney’s Board of Directors (Among them Bob Iger, George Mitchell and Judith Estrin). Claiming that these individuals are beholden to outgoing CEO Michael Eisner. More importantly, that the people named in this suit had made false statements to Disney shareholders regarding the corporation’s recent CEO search.
“Why are Roy & Stanley doing this?,” you ask. Well, because this is “Save Disney” ‘s equivalent of a “Hail Mary.”
For those of you who aren’t up on your football terminology: A “Hail Mary” is usually the last play of the game. When the losing team really has nothing left to lose. So they heave the ball in the air. With the hope that someone — anyone — down near the end zone actually catches the ball and then carries it across the goal line for a come-from-behind win.
That is — in essence — what Disney & Gold are doing right now. These two see this lawsuit as pretty much their last chance to get back in the game. To reclaim their positions of power at the Mouse House.
After all, their original plan (I.E. Unseat Eisner. Then handpick a successor that would be more in tune with Roy & Stanley’s vision of what the Walt Disney Company should be) didn’t quite pan out. And — given that it was Disney’s Board of Directors that ultimately aided Uncle Michael in his effort to keep Roy & Stanley from having any real influence over the process to pick Eisner’s replacement — Disney & Gold now feel that they have no choice but to go after the board itself.
Which is why — as part of their lawsuit — Roy & Stanley are now asking the Court to void Disney’s 2005 election of directors. So that “Save Disney” can then put its own alternate slate of directors up for election. With the hope that — should a few of their candidates get in — that this might then put Disney & Gold in a kingmaker position. As in: These two former Disney board members would once again have some say over who the company’s next CEO should be.
To say that this gambit is risky is an understatement. With ABC’s ratings surging this season, the Disney theme parks currently riding on a wave of positive publicity following last week’s official kick-off of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration, not to mention that the company’s stock price is now twice what it was when these former Disney board member resigned from the corporation back in late 2003 … Roy & Stanley are going to have a tough time convincing Wall Street insiders that the lawsuit they filed yesterday afternoon is actually in the Walt Disney Company’s best interests.
Add to this that CEO-to-be Bob Iger seems to be making all of the right moves so far (I.E. Allegedly reaching out to both Steve Jobs & George Lucas in an effort to repair Disney’s relationship with these two entertainment industry giants) … and you can see why “Save Disney” ultimately opted to go the file-the-lawsuit route. At this point, they really had no choice. It was either do something like this … or just fold their tents and fade away.
Well, clearly Roy & Stanley aren’t fold-their-tents types. And — should the Delaware Chancery Court actually decide that there is some validity to Disney & Gold’s claims and should that judge then opt to void the 2005 Board of Directors election … Well, that does put “Save Disney” back in the game. Sort of.
But the risks involved here to Roy’s reputation are enormous, folks. By that I mean: Walt’s nephew is fairly well thought of by Disney shareholders as well as by members of the Disneyana community. Right now, Roy is remembered as the man who ran a somewhat successful campaign to unseat Michael Eisner. More importantly, he’s seen as a guy who would never do anything to harm the Walt Disney Company. Who has only the best interests of the corporation in mind.
But for Walt’s nephew to file this lawsuit at a time when the Disney Company once again appears to be riding high … This legal action will no doubt result in a lot of negative publicity for the Mouse House. Which — given that the corporation is right in the middle of this multi-million dollar campaign that’s trying to make people feel all warm-n-fuzzy about the Disney theme parks again — this suit really couldn’t be coming at a worse time for the corporation.
So it’s going to be very hard for Roy & Stanley to avoid being cast as the spoilers in this situation. To make it seem as if Disney & Gold didn’t file this lawsuit just to get back at Michael Eisner & the Board of Directors. But — rather — because they really want what’s best for the Walt Disney Company.
UPDATE: Well, it didn’t take the Walt Disney Company very long to figure out how to spin this story. The Mouse’s PR flaks have decided to take a straight-forward approach: Which is to try & make Roy & Stanley’s decision to file this lawsuit seem as petty & small as possible.
Don’t believe me? Then take a gander at Disney Corporate Communication’s official response to any media queries that were made yesterday evening about what Disney & Gold had just done:
“The record of strong performance of The Walt Disney Company speaks for itself, and this frivolous and baseless lawsuit reflects the mean-spirited, self-serving interest of two ex-board members.”
FYI: That’s not an excerpt from the official Disney statement regarding the lawsuit filing. That’s the entire statement — word-for-word — straight from an official Disney spokesperson.
Well, here’s hoping that this “Hail Mary” play actually works for Roy & Stanley. Because otherwise … Well, it may take more than “Save Disney” to save their tattered reputations.
Your thoughts?