Disney Finds Eisner Not at Fault on IPO

Walt Disney Co.’s directors have found nothing wrong with Chairman Michael Eisner’s participation in the 1999 public stock offering of investment bank Goldman, Sachs Group Inc., the company said Thursday.

Eisner was allowed to buy 30,000 shares in the offering, which Disney attributed to his 10-year personal relationship with the firm, not the company’s dealings with Goldman.

Disney said the invitation to participate came from Eisner’s personal banker, and that it was the only IPO Eisner has participated in.

The Burbank company’s board began the review last year after a shareholder complaint.

Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha said that a committee of directors unanimously found Eisner’s actions were “perfectly appropriate and there was no merit to any legal claims.” That conclusion was later affirmed unanimously by the company’s full board, she said.

Eisner’s participation became public last year as part of a broader review by congressional investigators into how brokerages allocate hot stock offerings to favored clients.