More Trouble For Eisner

“Just when it appeared that Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, could begin enjoying the company’s turnaround and his final years in charge, a shareholder lawsuit threatens to dredge up some of the most embarrassing details of his two-decade reign and complicate his planned exit. On Wednesday, the Court of Chancery in Delaware will begin hearing a lawsuit filed by Disney shareholders contending that the board breached its fiduciary responsibility when Mr. Eisner hired his friend, Michael S. Ovitz, as president in 1995 and then signed off on Mr. Ovitz’s $140 million severance package 14 months later.”