My apologies, folks. But this is going to have to be short, folks. I’ve spent the past 12 hours or so trying to cover the whole “Save Disney” story. And — to be honest — I’m kind of beat right now.
But here’s what I can tell you: Disney and Gold really put on one hell of a show down here in Philly. Starting with their 11 a.m. morning press conference (where Roy and Stanley entered, surrounded by photographers, swarmed as if they were rock stars), then seguing straight into their 4 p.m. “Save Disney” briefing. Which was followed by much noshing and small talk at the after-event reception.
Here’s some of the more intriguing tidbits that I gleaned while wandering around the Loews Hotel yesterday:
According to in-the-know “Save Disney” staffers that I spoke with at the rally, Roy began recruiting people for his “Oust Eisner” effort three weeks BEFORE he resigned from the Walt Disney Company on November 30th. So this whole effort has clearly been in the works for a lot longer than Disney and Gold would probably be willing to admit.
Roy and Stanley were already anticipating today’s counter-move by Michael Eisner (I.E. agreeing to step down as the Chairman of the Mouse House, only stay to on as Disney’s CEO). At yesterday’s “Save Disney” briefing, Gold warned everyone in attendance: “Don’t you let the board get away with this. They can split the position of chairmanship and CEO. But neither one of those jobs should be held by Michael Eisner.”
Of course, Disney and Gold aren’t afraid to do a little spinning of their own. Immediately following today’s annual shareholders meeting at Philadelphia’s convention center, Roy and Stanley will be holding yet another press conference over at the Loews Hotel. Where they’ll be looking to immediately respond to whatever it is Eisner and Bob Iger put out there to shareholders.
Speaking of Bob Iger … I kept hearing from other reporters about how surprised they were by Iger’s comments yesterday afternoon. To explain: In an effort to pull some of the focus away from the “Save Disney” rally over at the Loews Hotel yesterday, Disney’s PR department announced a last-minute press event yesterday afternoon. “How last minute was it?” you ask. The Mouse’s press flacks sent out the notifications for this 4:30 p.m. event yesterday at 3:05 p.m.
Anyway … While Roy and Stanley were meeting with the Disney faithful over at the Loews, Iger was reading from a prepared statement in the Grand Hall of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. But what surprised those in attendance was how combative Disney’s president and COO came across. Here’s a transcript of Bob’s statement:
“Over the past few months, a campaign of misinformation and distortion has been waged against us. And tomorrow — at our annual shareholders meeting — we’re going to have the opportunity to set the record straight. The fact is the Walt Disney Company is the number one family entertainment company in the world. A recent survey by ‘Fortune’ Magazine placed us at the top in terms of the most admired entertainment companies.
We’re predicting that our earnings will increase over 30 percent this year from continued operations. Our stock is up almost 60% since our last shareholders meeting a year ago. And we are targeting double-digit increases from continued operations in earnings over the next three years, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Our studio is breaking all records. ESPN is the number one sports brand and is certainly thriving. The Disney Channel is a thriving operation which has been extremely successful in the United States and internationally. And Consumer Products — our licensing business — is improving. Our theme parks, the number one theme parks in the world are experiencing decent and gradual improvement. We have a profitable internet group. And we have great radio and television assets, radio stations, radio networks, television stations that have great margins.
Most importantly, we have fantastic creativity. Creativity, that is the result of a great management team that is dedicated to delivering on shareholder value and continuing the great tradition of the Walt Disney Company.
I think it’s very, very important for everyone to keep this in perspective the fact of the matter is this is a venerable company. One that has a wonderful legacy and one that we know will continue to grow and thrive for many years to come. Tomorrow’s going to be, I believe, an interesting day. But it’s also a day that I believe gives us an opportunity to prove to everyone that the statements that have been made about us and the campaign that has been waged (as I said in the beginning) is indeed distorted and one that is ripe with misinformation.”
According to one reporter who was there:
“Bob really came out swinging. If Iger’s behavior in the Grand Hall this afternoon is any indication of what he and Eisner are going to be like tomorrow morning, it’s going to be a pretty wild annual shareholder meeting.”
FYI: If you can’t make it down to Philly for today’s event, not to worry: Mickey’s actually webcasting this year’s annual meeting. So you can watch this amazing event in Disney Company history from the comfort of your own home computer or office PC by following this link.
I promise you a full report on both the “Save Disney” events as well as Disney’s annual shareholders meeting as soon as I get back to New Hampshire. But — for now — I think I’ll go slip into a coma.
Talk to you on Thursday, okay?
Special thanks to Rebekah Moseley of LaughingPlace.com for her help in the preparation of today’s story. If you want to stay on top of all of the most recent developments in the “Save Disney” / “Oust Eisner” story, you really have to start making regular trips over to LaughingPlace.com. So why don’t you head over there right now and check out their excellent selection of articles?