Judge Calls Disney's Eisner 'Machiavellian'

[gator717]

Judge Calls Disney's Eisner 'Machiavellian'

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

By Roger Friedman



Judge Calls Disney's Eisner 'Machiavellian'

The verdict is in on the Disney shareholders' lawsuit. And while Disney has won — at least until the case is appealed by the shareholders — it's not all good news for the Mouse House.

In fact, in his ruling, Judge William B. Chandler III had some not-so-nice observations to make about outgoing Disney CEO Michael Eisner. In his 180-page ruling, Chandler spends quite a few pages ruminating on Eisner. He writes:

"By virtue of his Machiavellian (and imperial) nature as CEO, and his control over [Michael] Ovitz's hiring in particular, Eisner to a large extent is responsible for the failings in process that infected and handicapped the board's decisionmaking abilities.

"Eisner," the judge continues, "stacked his (and I intentionally write "his" as opposed to "the Company's") board of directors with friends and other acquaintances who, though not necessarily beholden to him in a legal sense, were certainly more willing to accede to his wishes and support him unconditionally than truly independent directors."

Click here to read the ruling (pdf).

The judge, while finding that Eisner was well-intentioned on behalf of Disney, doesn't exactly give the departing CEO a glowing recommendation for future employers.

"Eisner's actions in connection with Ovitz's hiring should not serve as a model for fellow executives and fiduciaries to follow. His lapses were many. He failed to keep the board as informed as he should have. He stretched the outer boundaries of his authority as CEO by acting without specific board direction or involvement. He prematurely issued a press release that placed significant pressure on the board to accept Ovitz and approve his compensation package in accordance with the press release.

"To my mind," Chandler concludes sharply, "these actions fall far short of what shareholders expect and demand from those entrusted with a fiduciary position. Eisner's failure to better involve the board in the process of Ovitz's hiring, usurping that role for himself, although not in violation of law, does not comport with how fiduciaries of Delaware corporations are expected to act."

[Jiminy Cricket]

Machiavellian? Is that good? I say let the poor man go with his golden parachute and maybe someday he and his buddy will be in a movie with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd!

[Passarino6]

Mchiavellian is not commonly used as a positive term. it basically means that he feels he is the most important person in the world and will try to gain as much power as possible while everyone else is dirt under his feet. It refers to Machiavelli, the author of "the Prince."

[Lou Mongello]

Think about this:

Ovitz worked at Disney about 15 months.
His severance was equal to about $9.3 million for every month he was employed there.

That's equivalent to:
$2 million every week
$434,000 each day
$54,000 each hour and
$904 a minute.

[Diamond]

Yes! I read that on FoxNews.com yesterday!

[20K]

That Ovitz....grrrrr....

[Conceited Ape]

To be fair to the man, Niccolo Machiavelli would be shocked to hear how his family name is being used in these modern times. When he wrote The Prince, he was simply trying to offer European leaders diplomatic practical advice just by knowing the system.

[GirlStar613]

i had to read The Prince as part of a summer assignment for an a.p. class a million years ago...now that's torture!

[Conceited Ape]

You're preachin' to the proverbial choir, darlin'. Between this book and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, they did sette the stage for English studentes yett unbourne to haytte their guttes.

[lovedisprinces]

The Prince is actually quite good, some accurate things in there that people should use. I havnt read it in awhile(ok 2 years and i dont think i was awake for it) but still read parts of it while consience. People do take Machiavelli the wrong way quite often.

[SoarinFan]

Machiavellian? Is that good? I say let the poor man go with his golden parachute and maybe someday he and his buddy will be in a movie with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd!

I'm pretty sure the main idea of Macchiavelli's writing in the prince was "The ends justify the means" Which isn't really a good thing to say about someone.. It's more or less saying that someone cares only about the outcome and will do whatever it takes to achieve that, even if it means wronging people.

-Ryan