Roy Disney dies

Walt's nephew found his voice relatively late in life as he joined up with lawyer Stan Gold to become a successful investor through their firm, Shamrock Holdings. He and Gold had been impediments to Walt Disney Co. management on several occasions, with Roy arguing that the company had lost its creative spark. But there were also personality conflicts, especially involving Michael Eisner. From the LAT:

By November 2003, Disney learned that the board's four-member nominating committee was planning to leave his name off the slate of directors scheduled to be elected at the company's next annual meeting. The longtime animation chief discovered he had been shut out of a Thanksgiving week screening of ideas for new animated films. The company had been in a prolonged financial slump, with its earnings flat and its stock performance anemic, but the snub was the last straw. Disney and his business partner, Gold, abruptly quit the board of directors in December 2003 and called for Eisner's resignation.

In a stinging rebuke, Disney said that Eisner's leadership had led to the perception of the company as "rapacious, soul-less and always looking for the 'quick buck' rather than long-term value." Although the company's problems were well-known, Disney's public statement exposed the severity of his personal and professional rift with Eisner. A month later, Disney called on shareholders to cast a vote of no confidence in the top executive. Their efforts rallied a stunning 45% no-confidence vote for Eisner at the company's 2004 annual meeting in Philadelphia, prompting Disney directors to remove Eisner as board chairman. Five months later, Eisner said he would retire when his contract expired in September 2006.

Disney and Gold also questioned the board's selection of Bob Iger to replace Eisner as CEO. They called the search process "a sham." But Iger made peace with Disney. Over the years, Roy stayed in the background, rarely giving interviews. He was 79 and had been battling stomach cancer.

Edited post