Details from Disney's shareholder meeting,

Details from Disney's shareholder meeting

Disney Shareholders Reelect Ten Directors, Reject Two Stockholder Proposals

At its annual meeting in Chicago Tuesday, Ferbuary 22nd, attended by some 3,000 people, stockholders of The Walt Disney Company reelected ten directors to Disney's board, ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent accountants for fiscal year 2000 and rejected two stockholder proposals.

This year's meeting included, for the first time, holders of GO.com, the company's new class of common stock which tracks the performance of Disney's Internet operations.

Board Reelections
Reelected to the board were:

  • Reveta Bowers, an educator and head of school for the Center for Early Education
  • Roy Disney, vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company and head of its Animation Department
  • Ignacio Lozano, Jr., chairman of Lozano Enterprises, publisher of "La Opinion"
  • Former U.S. Senate majority leader George Mitchell
  • Gary Wilson, chairman of Northwest Airlines
  • Judith Estrin, chief technology officer and senior vice president of Cisco Systems Inc.
  • Sanford Litvack, vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company
  • Sidney Poitier, noted actor, director, writer and chairman of the board of Verdon-Cedrick Productions
  • Robert Stern, architect, teacher and writer, and chairman of Robert A.M. Stern Architects and dean of the Yale School of Architecture
  • Andrea Van de Camp, chairman of Sotheby's West Coast

Rejected Proposals
Rejected by a vote of 1.56 billion to 73.9 million a stockholder proposal to consider reduction of executive salaries and discontinue bonuses, stock options and other benefits; and

Also rejected, by a vote of 1.17 billion to 64.1 million, a stockholder proposal to create an election contest for each seat on the board.

Following are the texts of executive presentations at the meeting:

Michael Eisner's Presentation
Michael D. Eisner, Chairman and CEO
The Walt Disney Company

It is great to be here in Chicago, a city that holds particular significance for our company. Our corporate roots can be found here, as it is the birthplace of Walt Disney. And it is also the home of a wide range of Disney enterprises: We have 18 Disney Stores including the midwest flagship store on Michigan Avenue; DisneyQuest and ESPNZone -- both on Ohio; five radio stations: WLS, WXCD, Radio Disney stations WRDZ and WDDZ, and the charter ESPN Radio station, WMVP. In addition, of course, we have Chicago's number-one TV station -- WLS, and an ABC network news bureau.

Plus, the legendary Paul Harvey broadcasts here; this is where we had the recent successful run of our latest stage play, "Aida"; this is the home of the renowned Field Museum, which established a fascinating permanent exhibit at Disney's Animal Kingdom; and this is the home of our great corporate partner, McDonald's, which is currently sponsoring our Dreamers & Doers Millennium Celebration at Epcot and was a partner with us in acquiring the Tyrannosaurus Rex for the Field Museum.

So, yes, Chicago is our kind of town ... and we thank you for coming.