Roy Disney has stepped up his campaign to remove Michael Eisner as chief executive of Walt Disney, slating the firm's "cultural decay" and accusing the media and entertainment firm of squandering $25bn (£13bn) on a series of "failed ventures".
Mr Disney's latest attack comes in a filing with the securities and exchange commission, the US financial regulator, ahead of the company's annual meeting next month. A spokesman for Mr Disney, a nephew of the company founder, said that he was in "active talks" with institutional shareholders and had scheduled a series of presentations. The renegade shareholder also yesterday invited investors to a briefing in Philadelphia the day before the annual meeting.
In a letter to shareholders he said: "We have every expectation that you will see a lot of glitz and razzle-dazzle at Disney's annual meeting. Unfortunately, in our view, that has been the modus operandi of the company in recent years: a lot of fluff and not enough substance. We believe the company's shareholders deserve the facts without the spin."
He noted that $10,000 invested in Disney on January 1 1996 would have grown to only $11,497 by December 31 2003. That amount invested in a Dow Jones index fund would have grown to $20,191 over the same period.
Mr Disney, who alongside fellow board director Stanley Gold resigned from the company two months ago, was viewed by Wall Street at the time as little more than an embarrassment for Mr Eisner. The company's recent financial performance has been showing signs of improvement, which appeared to insulate Mr Eisner from the attacks.
But the failure of Disney to renew a distribution deal with Pixar, the phenomenally successful computer animation studio, could galvanise support for the campaign to oust Mr Eisner. Pixar, behind the biggest ever animated film Finding Nemo, split with Disney last week and is looking for a new partner. Disney took a 12.5% distribution fee and the companies shared the profits.
Steve Jobs, who runs Pixar, launched his own public attack on Mr Eisner on Wednesday, questioning the creative capabilities of Disney, which has struggled to produce its own animated hits.
Mr Disney's SEC filing describes the company as one where "strategic planning, marketing and finance schemes" have become more important than creative talent. The company, it said, had wasted money on "schemes that recycle rather than innovate" and has reached a point where marketing "is the centre of all existence. The product is no longer what matters most, just how you sell it."
Disney had no comment.
The filing said "daring dynamic, creative" management "has given way to a staid and inbred group under the singular imperial rule of an emperor [Michael Eisner] and his enabling court [the board of directors]".
Mr Disney, 74, is calling for the replacement of Mr Eisner and three other directors.
Mr Eisner is one of the longest standing chief executives on Wall Street and was widely lauded for reinvigorating the then struggling Disney in the mid to late 1980s.
The filing details a series of "failed ventures", describing EuroDisney as the "first significant stumble under modern leadership".
Both the Paris and Californian theme parks, it said, were "doomed to mediocrity".
