Disney's Eisner Rebuked in Shareholder Vote

P H I L A D E L P H I A, March 3, 2004 -- Despite a shareholder revolt that led him to lose the chairmanship of The Walt Disney Co., Michael Eisner vows that he will stay on as CEO through the end of his term in 2006.

"My intention is definitely to serve that term out to its completion," Eisner told Nightline's Ted Koppel in his first interview after the Disney board voted to split his dual job title of chairman and chief executive, which he had held for 20 years.

The board made former Sen. George Mitchell, a member of Disney's board, the company's new chairman, effective immediately.

The directors voted unanimously for Mitchell, a former U.S. senator from Maine, but in a statement reiterated their approval of Eisner's management and the company's strategy.

Earlier today, 43 percent of shareholders who voted at the company's annual meeting withheld their support for Eisner. The number of shares withheld was higher than many had been expecting, and represented a victory for shareholder activists Stanley Gold and Roy E. Disney, former board members who have been leading a shareholder revolt against Eisner.

The duo called the shareholders' vote "unprecedented in American corporatehistory" and called again for the board to oust Eisner. "After today's mandate, the board can no longer ignore the will of its shareholders," they said in a statement after the result of the vote was announced.

Eisner was running for re-election unopposed, so his job was not in immediate danger. He told Nightline Disney and Gold created "a groundswell with their rhetoric" among the shareholders, but said the Disney board was not swayed by the two men's arguments.

Disney and Gold had earlier said they would not be satisfied if Eisner lost just one of his titles.

The shareholders' vote also sparked renewed interest by Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company. It called on the board to reconsider its $49 billion all-stock takeover bid, which was rejected earlier as too low. Comcast did not raise its offer, and the Disney board reiterated that it was inadequate and would not benefit shareholders.