Disney Board Reviewing CEO Buying IPO Shares
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Walt Disney Co. said on Tuesday its board was reviewing Chief Executive Michael Eisner's participation in a 1999 initial public offering following a shareholder complaint. The request follows a recent decision by Ford Motor Co. to investigate a similar complaint. Eisner purchased 30,000 shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in the investment bank's IPO, and Disney said its board, following routine corporate governance practices, had formed a committee of independent directors to review the matter. "The committee is expected to report back to the board in early 2003. Mr. Eisner, a 10-year substantial private client of Goldman Sachs, participated in the offering at the invitation of his personal banker, and he has not participated in any other IPO," Disney told Reuters. Disney is a corporate client of Goldman, which was co-lead manager with Salomon Smith Barney of a $300 million global bond offering by Disney on Monday. Ford board last week agreed to study the acquisition by Chief Executive Bill Ford of 400,000 shares of the Goldman Sachs offering. The Disney complaint was similar to the Ford case. Both complaints were in the form of requests to the board, not lawsuits. Congressional investigators have charged that many heads of US corporations received privileged access to stock offerings managed by investment banks lobbying for business during the bull market of the late 1990s.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Walt Disney Co. said on Tuesday its board was reviewing Chief Executive Michael Eisner's participation in a 1999 initial public offering following a shareholder complaint. The request follows a recent decision by Ford Motor Co. to investigate a similar complaint. Eisner purchased 30,000 shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in the investment bank's IPO, and Disney said its board, following routine corporate governance practices, had formed a committee of independent directors to review the matter. "The committee is expected to report back to the board in early 2003. Mr. Eisner, a 10-year substantial private client of Goldman Sachs, participated in the offering at the invitation of his personal banker, and he has not participated in any other IPO," Disney told Reuters. Disney is a corporate client of Goldman, which was co-lead manager with Salomon Smith Barney of a $300 million global bond offering by Disney on Monday. Ford board last week agreed to study the acquisition by Chief Executive Bill Ford of 400,000 shares of the Goldman Sachs offering. The Disney complaint was similar to the Ford case. Both complaints were in the form of requests to the board, not lawsuits. Congressional investigators have charged that many heads of US corporations received privileged access to stock offerings managed by investment banks lobbying for business during the bull market of the late 1990s.