Disney Details Affiliations of Directors
By LAURA M. HOLSON
December 6, 2002
LOS ANGELES (New York Times) -- One day after the Walt Disney Company said it was cooperating with an inquiry by securities regulators into the timing of the disclosure of its board members' affiliations, the company disclosed more financial relationships between some directors and companies that do business with Disney.
A sports marketing company owned in part by Eugene Bay, the father-in-law of Disney's president, Robert A. Iger, received $69,892 for services provided during the 2002 fiscal year, according to the company's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
Mr. Bay, whose Eugene Bay Associates has worked with Disney's ESPN network since 1990, is the father of Willow Bay, Mr. Iger's wife and an anchor for CNN. ESPN's relationship with the company predates the marriage of Ms. Bay to Mr. Iger, who is also a Disney director.
Disney also disclosed that the company paid $623,782 to Air Shamrock, a small fleet of aircraft owned by Shamrock Holdings, the investment vehicle for the family and associates of Roy Disney. Mr. Disney, who is a director and nephew of Walt Disney, used an Air Shamrock plane to take trips on behalf of the company. He was accompanied by other directors and employees, the report said.
The disclosures come as the Disney Company has tried to revamp its board, which has been criticized for not being independent enough. Disney said on Tuesday that it was cooperating in an S.E.C. inquiry into disclosures in August that relatives of several independent board members, including Stanley Gold, John Bryson and Ray Watson, had links to Disney or a company it controls. According to a Disney executive, the information should have been disclosed sooner.
This week, the company added a new independent director, Robert Matschullat, a former investment banker and media executive.
The annual report also said that Thomas Murphy, another board member who served as chairman of Capital Cities/ABC before it was acquired by Disney in 1995, was given office space at ABC in fiscal 2002, as well as a leased car and driver, at a total cost of $268,000.
By LAURA M. HOLSON
December 6, 2002
LOS ANGELES (New York Times) -- One day after the Walt Disney Company said it was cooperating with an inquiry by securities regulators into the timing of the disclosure of its board members' affiliations, the company disclosed more financial relationships between some directors and companies that do business with Disney.
A sports marketing company owned in part by Eugene Bay, the father-in-law of Disney's president, Robert A. Iger, received $69,892 for services provided during the 2002 fiscal year, according to the company's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
Mr. Bay, whose Eugene Bay Associates has worked with Disney's ESPN network since 1990, is the father of Willow Bay, Mr. Iger's wife and an anchor for CNN. ESPN's relationship with the company predates the marriage of Ms. Bay to Mr. Iger, who is also a Disney director.
Disney also disclosed that the company paid $623,782 to Air Shamrock, a small fleet of aircraft owned by Shamrock Holdings, the investment vehicle for the family and associates of Roy Disney. Mr. Disney, who is a director and nephew of Walt Disney, used an Air Shamrock plane to take trips on behalf of the company. He was accompanied by other directors and employees, the report said.
The disclosures come as the Disney Company has tried to revamp its board, which has been criticized for not being independent enough. Disney said on Tuesday that it was cooperating in an S.E.C. inquiry into disclosures in August that relatives of several independent board members, including Stanley Gold, John Bryson and Ray Watson, had links to Disney or a company it controls. According to a Disney executive, the information should have been disclosed sooner.
This week, the company added a new independent director, Robert Matschullat, a former investment banker and media executive.
The annual report also said that Thomas Murphy, another board member who served as chairman of Capital Cities/ABC before it was acquired by Disney in 1995, was given office space at ABC in fiscal 2002, as well as a leased car and driver, at a total cost of $268,000.