Roy Disney Rejects Board Proposal on Heir
After waging an often bitter campaign for change at Walt Disney Co., former board member Roy E. Disney urged shareholders to reject a proposal asking the company to forever reserve one seat on the board for a Disney heir.
The proposal, which would name a Disney family member as an independent director, was made by Frank Wierenga, a Pennsylvania shareholder. It will appear in the company’s proxy statement and be voted on at next year’s annual meeting.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Dec. 31, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday December 31, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 73 words Type of Material: Correction
Disney board -- An article in Saturday’s Business section about a Walt Disney Co. shareholder’s proposal to reserve one seat on the board for a Disney heir said the proposal would appear on Disney’s upcoming proxy statement and would be voted on by shareholders next year. Disney can omit the proposal from the proxy statement. Its request to do so received a favorable response from the Securities and Exchange Commission staff Dec. 14.
Roy Disney, son of company co-founder Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney’s nephew, posted an open letter to shareholders on his website urging that the proposal be defeated.
Roy Disney said that he appreciated Wierenga’s sentiment toward the family, but that “no one should have the right to a seat on the board merely because of his or her last name.”
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