I saw this posted on Reuters and thought I'd post it here.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Symbol=US:DIS&Feed=RTR&Date=20040322&ID=3515304
Disney CEO foes expect vote to show worker support
March 22, 2004 6:01:00 PM ET
LOS ANGELES, March 22 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. (DIS) dissidents planning their next move against Michael Eisner expect final results of the shareholder vote this month will show that most employees in the company pension plan oppose Eisner.
The result of the March 3 annual meeting vote is still being certified, and Disney declined to comment before the final count.
But the proxy firm which marshaled anti-Eisner forces on behalf of former directors Roy Disney and Stanley Gold estimated on Monday that nearly 75 percent of employees in one stock buying plan had opposed Eisner's reelection to the company board.
Dan Burch, chief executive of MacKenzie Partners, based his estimate on informal tallies of calls to members of a separate, smaller employee share-buying plan whose members were asked to withhold support from Eisner.
"Nearly three out of every four were favorably inclined and indicated that they were going to withhold their vote," said Burch. He said that he believed the percentage would be similar for the pension plan members.
The pension vote may be the best stand-in for a poll of Disney employees view on Eisner, but readings of its significance will not be an exact science.
About 24,000 of Disney's 112,000 employees are members of the plan, Disney said.
The 401K pension plan holds about 28 million shares, or 1.4 percent, of Disney stock, but only 14 million to 15 million can be voted by individuals, MacKenzie said. The rest are unallocated shares, such as ones that have not been vested.
Fidelity Management Trust Co. said before the vote that it would cast undecided ballots.
It will not be possible to tell how many employees cast ballots, because in the final tally unallocated shares will be divided and cast to reflect the proportion of shares actually voted. REUTERS
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Symbol=US:DIS&Feed=RTR&Date=20040322&ID=3515304
Disney CEO foes expect vote to show worker support
March 22, 2004 6:01:00 PM ET
LOS ANGELES, March 22 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. (DIS) dissidents planning their next move against Michael Eisner expect final results of the shareholder vote this month will show that most employees in the company pension plan oppose Eisner.
The result of the March 3 annual meeting vote is still being certified, and Disney declined to comment before the final count.
But the proxy firm which marshaled anti-Eisner forces on behalf of former directors Roy Disney and Stanley Gold estimated on Monday that nearly 75 percent of employees in one stock buying plan had opposed Eisner's reelection to the company board.
Dan Burch, chief executive of MacKenzie Partners, based his estimate on informal tallies of calls to members of a separate, smaller employee share-buying plan whose members were asked to withhold support from Eisner.
"Nearly three out of every four were favorably inclined and indicated that they were going to withhold their vote," said Burch. He said that he believed the percentage would be similar for the pension plan members.
The pension vote may be the best stand-in for a poll of Disney employees view on Eisner, but readings of its significance will not be an exact science.
About 24,000 of Disney's 112,000 employees are members of the plan, Disney said.
The 401K pension plan holds about 28 million shares, or 1.4 percent, of Disney stock, but only 14 million to 15 million can be voted by individuals, MacKenzie said. The rest are unallocated shares, such as ones that have not been vested.
Fidelity Management Trust Co. said before the vote that it would cast undecided ballots.
It will not be possible to tell how many employees cast ballots, because in the final tally unallocated shares will be divided and cast to reflect the proportion of shares actually voted. REUTERS