Shareholder meeting revelations

[jakeman]

Enigma is right. I actually got a transcript of the Board Meeting discussing the (then) upcoming Shareholders meeting:

Iger: dude, we're going to have plants in the audience to give us softball questions.
Lassetter: Fine, homie, count me out, I have too much integrity for that!!!

(Lassetter also then kicked Iger in the throat).

I was going to try and top this with something witty, but you sir have won wdwmagic! :ROFLOL:

 

[brisem]

Thanks everyone for the updates

 

[TP2000]

Thanks for the play-by-play gang, that was a fun read!

Let's recap what was discussed regarding Disney Parks & Resorts by property mentioned, shall we?

Walt Disney World - Not mentioned?
Disneyland Paris - Not mentioned?
Hong Kong Disneyland - Not mentioned?
Tokyo Disneyland - Not mentioned?

Disneyland Resort - Billion dollar DCA expansion and makeover, CarsLand addition, Magical Express not currently planned for Anaheim, 3rd theme park in initial planning but not close enough to be announced yet

Disney Cruise Line - Two new ships being built for West Coast cruises

DVC - Hawaii resort being built through end of this decade

Global Expansion - in planning but not close enough to be announced yet

Did I miss anything when it comes to Parks & Resorts?

 

[mcjaco]

But the last two annual shareholders meetings included portions whre they "placated the fans" as you want to call it. They had a segment where John Lasseter would come out and talk about the stuff hes cooking up and reveal new projects like the return of 2D animation with "The Frog Princess" and that they have begun development on "Toy Story 3". This year there was really none of that other than brief mentions of the already disclosed 5 year plan for DCA and about Rapunzel being in development.

My point is that this industry is very tight lipped about projects. Especially with the changes going on at USO. There's not always a need to tell everyone what's in the planning stages. Somethings are better kept under wraps. And again, it's a shareholders meeting. New rides don't always equate to excitement for the larger shareholders. They're in it for the money, not the "what ride are we getting this year?"

 

[Austin1]

My point is that this industry is very tight lipped about projects. Especially with the changes going on at USO. There's not always a need to tell everyone what's in the planning stages. Somethings are better kept under wraps. And again, it's a shareholders meeting. New rides don't always equate to excitement for the larger shareholders. They're in it for the money, not the "what ride are we getting this year?"

Maybe they are "tight lipped" right now as you say, or maybe we really aren't getting any new E attractions for a while. My experience with Disney has always been that, if they are creating a new attraction or experience, they want everyone and his brother to know and they want it to sound 10 times as good as it actually is. Things have never been this "hush hush", maybe they are trying to keeps things under wraps because of the competition down the road, or maybe they really aren't doing anything impressive in the parks for the next few years. .

 

[EpcotServo]

Did they vote to make this guy CEO?

:lol:

 

[brisem]

Disney's annual meeting: On Iger's pay and a controversial miniseries
Posted Mar 8th 2008 3:10PM by Steven Mallas
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), News Corp'B' (NWS), Politics

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) held its annual shareholder meeting last Thursday, and a couple interesting things were discussed, according to a Hollywood Reporter piece.

Apparently, a mutual fund manager challenged management regarding a controversial miniseries called The Path to 9/11, claiming that Disney has decided not to exploit the project on home video because of political considerations. I vaguely remember this miniseries, but it seems to have been critical of President Bill Clinton, and since his wife is running right now, well, maybe the decision was based on not interfering with whatever momentum she may (or may not) have. The mutual fund guy said CEO Bob Iger has been a donor of Clinton (as one can imagine, Iger denies that politics are involved here).

I am really not sure if this guy has a legitimate point or not, or what his bias is, but let me say this -- if the miniseries did really cost $40 million, then it should be out on DVD, period. Shareholders should be angry about that. Content is king, new distribution platforms are the kingdom, and if this miniseries is controversial, then it might bring in a little bit of cash to the Mouse's coffers. Now, I obviously realize that not releasing the miniseries isn't going to break Disney -- but I do want the company to aggressively exploit any and all content, especially one that cost $40 million to generate.

Let me get to the second thing that was interesting -- Mr. Iger's compensation. Some feel that his compensation is excessive; others -- such as the Disney board -- think it is not. My take? I think it is excessive. Yes, he's been a good CEO, but you know something, Disney' stock still hasn't returned to the $40+ level that it used to be many, many years ago. I've owned Disney since 1998, around the time of its last split. And here's a question I'd like to ask Iger -- in all seriousness, if you were paid $5 million a year to run Disney -- heck, I'd do it for less -- would you quit? I wonder what his answer would be. Again, Iger is doing reasonably well in the competitive world of media, which includes companies like Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), CBS (NYSE: CBS), General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS). But if anyone has the right to be greedy, it's capitalists like me who actually put up the capital.

Steven Mallas owns shares of Disney and General Electric; positions can change at any time.

Tags: Bob Iger, CBS, CEO compensation, Clinton, Disney, featured, The Path to 9/11, Time Warner, Walt Disney

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Wow. A play by play on a shareholder meeting. We Disney fans (or is it "Us Disney fans?") have WAY too much time on our hands. However, it was immensly entertaining and appreciated. Thanks! :wave:

All in all, pretty boring. Nothing really interesting to mull over.

One question that I have though--Exactly how much is Bob Iger's compensation?