[MouseMan]

Disney on Board with Changes
Tue Dec 3, 3:23 AM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters/Variety Industry to My Yahoo!


By Carl DiOrio

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Walt Disney Co. is expected Tuesday to announce plans to cut its board by two-to-four directors, while naming a new director and creating a first-time "presiding director" post on the board.



Disney board member George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator, is considered a lead candidate for that post, despite his continuing Washington commitments. Actor Sidney Poitier (news) and school principal educator Reveta Bowers are among those expected to resign from the board by year's end.


Poitier is essentially retiring from the board, while Bowers would be leaving for unspecified reasons. It wasn't immediately clear who else, if anybody, plans to leave the board.


A well-placed source said it's unlikely any details about who is leaving or joining the board will be announced after a board meeting scheduled for Tuesday in Gotham. Some kind of news regarding the broad strokes of a reshaping is anticipated, however.


A Mouse House insider, remarking on a published report about looming board changes, said the idea of expanding the leadership came from corporate governance consultant Ira Millstein. The naming of a presiding director would mimic moves by other big companies to appoint a board member with no ties to the company to run occasional meetings without management on hand.


Millstein, a New York consultant and attorney, also has recommended bolstering board independence, which sparked the proposal to add an outside director. If one is appointed, four sitting directors would have to resign to reduce the board by at least three as previously suggested.


Disney's quest to boost independence is expected to prompt a rejiggering of the composition of some key board work panels.


The various Disney proposals follow a string of financial scandals that have spurred companies to rethink matters of corporate governance, with board makeup a key issue. For Disney chairman-CEO Michael Eisner, the matter represents just one of many turnaround issues.


Along with a few operational issues, there have been recent signs of progress in his efforts to revitalize Disney stock. The long-languishing shares have recently been creeping toward the $20 mark for the first time in months, though the stock back-pedaled a bit Monday. Shares fell 43 cents or 2%, to $19.39 after a moderately downbeat market session.

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