Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2005)
$7.00 CAD $2.25 PAMT ■ Wm i _ _ ■ •|j:|l'll i ri il (.'■ -liir■t.iW.i.'iH. .. o fuidiivfia 111 Eugene to serve you: • 555 High St, 344-2115 (our closest location to campus) • 1880 W.IHh, 683-8284 (great selection of appliances and new furniture) • 705 S. Seneca, 345-8036 (lots of clothes and household items) • 2345 West Broadway, 284-5024 (huge warehouse of used furniture) • 201 Division Ave., 762-7837 (clothes, books, furniture, appliances) I * 1175 Highway 99,607-4541 (our huge car lot) NEED STUFF FOR , p , YOUR NEW PLACE? W' 5E&SS FRIDAY'S @ FOUR STUDENT GOLFING AT 'THE NINES' Nine Holes plus FREE Fountain Drink (or $ 1.00 off beer or wine) For More Info call 345-9160 or visit www.PlayRiverRidgeGolf.com Judge finds Disney short of 'ideal' in superagent case THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WILMINGTON, Del. — While The Walt Disney Co. CEO’s “lapses were many,” and its embattled pres ident left the entertainment con glomerate with a $140 million sev erance package, a court ruled that Disney board members did not vio late their duties or waste company resources in the hiring and firing of former Hollywood superagent Michael Ovitz. The Disney board did not breach its fiscal responsibilities by agreeing to hire Ovitz as president in 1995, then granting him the hefty sever ance just 14 months later. The ruling closes the trial phase of a shareholder lawsuit that re vealed the tempestuous inner work ings of one of the world’s largest en tertainment companies. TTial testimony included details of the enmity Ovitz engendered among fellow Disney executives, including CEO Michael Eisner, who described Ovitz in company memos as a “psychopath” with a “character problem.” Ovitz contended that he loved Eisner “like a brother” but was micromanaged, undermined by other key executives and “cut out like cancer” before he had time to prove his worth. Disney executives said Ovitz wasted money, alienated executives with his arrogance and could not be trusted during his tenure at the Burbank, Calif.-based company. Chancellor William Chandler III said that while the directors’ con duct “fell significantly short of the best practices of ideal corporate governance,” board members did not violate their duties or waste Disney resources. “It is easy, of course, to fault a de cision that ends in failure, once hindsight makes the result of that decision plain to see. But the i essence of business is risk — the ap plication of informed belief to con- i tingencies whose outcomes can sometimes be predicted, but never known,” Chandler wrote in a ] 175-page decision. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said : they will appeal Chandler’s decision to the Delaware Supreme Court. i "It would be unfortunate for 1 shareholders and employees of pub lic companies if this decision is read 1 by corporate managers as a license i to act in disregard of their duties to engage in the deliberate processes : required by fiduciaries,” said Melvyn Weiss, a partner with Mil- 1 berg Weiss Bershad & Schulman. : Ovitz’s attorney, Mark 1 Epstein, said his client was 1 “extremely pleased,” and that he is i confident the decision will be up held on appeal. “According to the court, there < were no improprieties regarding 1 honesty, expenses, gift giving; t he just dismissed without merit 1 all of those allegations,” Epstein said. "... I think the chancellor’s de cision with regard to Mr. Ovitz is : rock solid.” 1 The lawsuit claimed that current i and former members of Disney’s 1 board did not properly scrutinize 1 Ovitz’s employment contract after < Eisner tapped him as president, then wrongly granted Ovitz a non- < fault termination entitling him to a $140 million severance package just more than one year later. ] Lawyers for the shareholders al eged that Ovitz’s performance was >o poor that he should have been ired for cause and not paid the re nainder of his contract. The defen iants, including Eisner and Ovitz, said Ovitz’s contract was given :areful consideration, and that vhile Ovitz’s tenure was stormy :rom the start, there was no gross legligence or malfeasance that vould justify denying him his severance package. While ruling for plaintiffs, Chandler chided Eisner — who eaves as CEO next month — for not idequately involving the board in msiness matters and having “en hroned himself as the omnipotent md infallible monarch of his per sonal Magic Kingdom.” “His lapses were many. He failed o keep the board as informed as he should have. He stretched the outer loundaries of his authority as CEO )y acting without specific board di ection or involvement,” the judge vrote. “Eisner’s failure to better in volve the board in the process of Dvitz’s hiring, usurping that role for limself, although not in violation of he law, does not comport with how iduciaries of Delaware corporations ire expected to act.” Eisner’s attorney, Gary Naftalis, said the CEO was “very pleased that he court, after hearing all the testi nony and seeing the witnesses, has bund that he and the other direc ors properly carried out their fidu :iary duties to the shareholders. “This was a case where the evidence didn’t support any claims, md the judge after hearing it igreed,” Naftalis said. “We’re iretty happy.” 022651 rulty furnished ° Individual leases o Pull size washers and dryers in every apartment • 24 Hour Fitness Center c Heated pool • Security alarm system • Water, trash, sewer included On bus route Roommate matching • it % & 4 bedroom apartments • 3 bedroom with a den • Game room • Cased basketball court • Sand volleyball court • Uniformed security on-site umversiTY COMMONS apartments 338-4000 90 Commons Drive, Eugene, OR 97401 Hours: M-F 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm Sun 12pm-5pm
