Found this Q&A of Mitchell at http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=69520&ran=137149
As the new chairman of Disney, former senator has his hands full
By TOM SHEAN, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 25, 2004
VIRGINIA BEACH — By the time shareholders gathered in early March for Walt Disney Co.’s annual meeting, their expressions of dissatisfaction with the company’s financial performance had become a roar.
Several of the entertainment company’s large investors, including public-employee pension funds in California, New York and Virginia, had withheld their votes for returning chairman and chief executive Michael D. Eisner to the Disney board of directors.
The board responded by separating the roles of CEO and chairman, naming former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell as chairman.
Today, Mitchell, a 70-year-old attorney, spends much of his time on the road, trying to counter the disaffection among Disney shareholders. He is scheduled to meet next month with half a dozen pension funds that expressed their concerns about Disney’s direction under Eisner.
Before joining the Disney board in 1995, Mitchell served for 15 years in the Senate, including six years as Senate majority leader. Since stepping down, he has helped negotiate a crucial peace accord in Northern Ireland and headed a U.S. fact-finding committee on violence in the Middle East.
Mitchell, who served as Democratic senator from Maine, was in Virginia Beach on Thursday to speak to a gathering of SunTrust customers about foreign affairs and U.S. political issues. Before his speech at the Contemporary Arts Center of Virginia, Mitchell discussed his work as Disney’s chairman.
Q. Were you surprised at the number of institutional investors who expressed their unhappiness at the annual meeting about Disney’s performance?
A. No. I’ve been at many annual meetings where there has been emotion displayed and votes withheld. We were pretty well aware of what was going to occur.
Q. Were there any lessons that you took away from the annual meeting?
A. First, of course, that the primary obligation of the members of the board is to the shareholders and to add shareholder value. That means listening to the concerns of shareholders and acting on them.
Q. Were you prepared to become chairman ?
A. I had been asked by the board to serve as presiding director a year and a half earlier, so I had that experience, which helped prepare me. I had served on the board for nine years, so I had some understanding of the business and the company. But this is a new experience for the company and for me, so I’m devoting a great deal of time and effort to it.
Q. You are scheduled to meet next month with a half-dozen pension funds that have criticized Disney’s financial results and the performance of its chief executive. Will you have a message for these shareholders?
A. Our message to all shareholders will be that we want to listen to their concerns.
We want to understand their concerns and, to the extent possible, we want to respond to those concerns. A second message we want to convey to them is setting forth the very strong recent performance by the company and very strong projected performance in the coming quarter and the year, based on what we know. I do not want to leave the impression that this meeting is unique. It is not. I’ve met with dozens and dozens of shareholders. This is part of an ongoing process.
Q. Some of Disney’s institutional shareholders want the company’s chief executive to depart. Has the board of directors devised a succession plan for the post of CEO?
A. At my direction, the board began in January to detail the process of a succession plan, which we will continue at meetings next week. We will conduct sessions, first with the CEO to hear his comments, and sessions with just the non management directors. We will continue that process until such time as we complete our deliberations, decide upon a plan and announce it.
Q. How long will the process take?
A. We’re not going to limit ourselves to any artificial time schedule. We’re going to do it in as much detail and as thoroughly as the situation warrants.
Q. Corporate governance is a topic that few people heard about until several large shareholders began criticizing the ways that public companies have been run. Are there more issues surrounding corporate governance still to come?
A. I do not believe that corporate governance can be viewed as a single permanent standard which one achieves. The important thing is for companies not to say, “We have adopted a set of guidelines.
We’ve met all of the existing standards.
Now let’s go concentrate on something else.” This is an ongoing process that will require ongoing attention.
As the new chairman of Disney, former senator has his hands full
By TOM SHEAN, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 25, 2004
VIRGINIA BEACH — By the time shareholders gathered in early March for Walt Disney Co.’s annual meeting, their expressions of dissatisfaction with the company’s financial performance had become a roar.
Several of the entertainment company’s large investors, including public-employee pension funds in California, New York and Virginia, had withheld their votes for returning chairman and chief executive Michael D. Eisner to the Disney board of directors.
The board responded by separating the roles of CEO and chairman, naming former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell as chairman.
Today, Mitchell, a 70-year-old attorney, spends much of his time on the road, trying to counter the disaffection among Disney shareholders. He is scheduled to meet next month with half a dozen pension funds that expressed their concerns about Disney’s direction under Eisner.
Before joining the Disney board in 1995, Mitchell served for 15 years in the Senate, including six years as Senate majority leader. Since stepping down, he has helped negotiate a crucial peace accord in Northern Ireland and headed a U.S. fact-finding committee on violence in the Middle East.
Mitchell, who served as Democratic senator from Maine, was in Virginia Beach on Thursday to speak to a gathering of SunTrust customers about foreign affairs and U.S. political issues. Before his speech at the Contemporary Arts Center of Virginia, Mitchell discussed his work as Disney’s chairman.
Q. Were you surprised at the number of institutional investors who expressed their unhappiness at the annual meeting about Disney’s performance?
A. No. I’ve been at many annual meetings where there has been emotion displayed and votes withheld. We were pretty well aware of what was going to occur.
Q. Were there any lessons that you took away from the annual meeting?
A. First, of course, that the primary obligation of the members of the board is to the shareholders and to add shareholder value. That means listening to the concerns of shareholders and acting on them.
Q. Were you prepared to become chairman ?
A. I had been asked by the board to serve as presiding director a year and a half earlier, so I had that experience, which helped prepare me. I had served on the board for nine years, so I had some understanding of the business and the company. But this is a new experience for the company and for me, so I’m devoting a great deal of time and effort to it.
Q. You are scheduled to meet next month with a half-dozen pension funds that have criticized Disney’s financial results and the performance of its chief executive. Will you have a message for these shareholders?
A. Our message to all shareholders will be that we want to listen to their concerns.
We want to understand their concerns and, to the extent possible, we want to respond to those concerns. A second message we want to convey to them is setting forth the very strong recent performance by the company and very strong projected performance in the coming quarter and the year, based on what we know. I do not want to leave the impression that this meeting is unique. It is not. I’ve met with dozens and dozens of shareholders. This is part of an ongoing process.
Q. Some of Disney’s institutional shareholders want the company’s chief executive to depart. Has the board of directors devised a succession plan for the post of CEO?
A. At my direction, the board began in January to detail the process of a succession plan, which we will continue at meetings next week. We will conduct sessions, first with the CEO to hear his comments, and sessions with just the non management directors. We will continue that process until such time as we complete our deliberations, decide upon a plan and announce it.
Q. How long will the process take?
A. We’re not going to limit ourselves to any artificial time schedule. We’re going to do it in as much detail and as thoroughly as the situation warrants.
Q. Corporate governance is a topic that few people heard about until several large shareholders began criticizing the ways that public companies have been run. Are there more issues surrounding corporate governance still to come?
A. I do not believe that corporate governance can be viewed as a single permanent standard which one achieves. The important thing is for companies not to say, “We have adopted a set of guidelines.
We’ve met all of the existing standards.
Now let’s go concentrate on something else.” This is an ongoing process that will require ongoing attention.