Just in case it gets lost at CNN.....
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ZAHN: Now to our interview with the man who has launched a public campaign to get rid of Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
Over the weekend, Roy Disney, the last family member to serve on the board of the Walt Disney Company, resigned. And he demanded Eisner do the same. So why is Disney trying to push out the man many believe turned the company around?
Well, Roy Disney joins us now to explain.
Good to see you, sir. Welcome.
DISNEY: Thank you.
ZAHN: I wanted to start off tonight by looking at some numbers.
In 1984, when Mr. Eisner took the helm with Frank Wells, profits were $97 million. Last year, they were $1.2 billion. In 1984, revenues of $1.7 billion. Last year, $25.3 billion. And we're told the stock price, if it stays on track for the year, will be up significantly this year.
What's wrong with that picture?
DISNEY: Well, here's another way to look at the same numbers. If you invested $1,000 in Disney in 1984, when Michael Eisner and Frank Wells together came into the company -- and that was very much our doing, trying to right the company from a course that we thought was astray at that time. If you invested $1,000 then, you would have, I think -- I believe it's accurate to say about $89,000 today.
However, if you invested that same $1,000 in Disney seven years ago, you would have $1,000 today. And it should have been in the bank. And there's been something like $5 billion, $6 billion of cash invested in a number of things in that period of time that have simply not added to the value of the company.
ZAHN: Do you want Mr. Eisner's job yourself?
DISNEY: I've never wanted Mr. Eisner's job myself. I didn't want it 20 years ago.
And, no, what the company needs is new, fresh blood that's excited about the company and excited about the future.
ZAHN: Who would you like to see replace him, if he goes?
DISNEY: Well, I obviously am not in a position to name names, because -- and we get asked this a lot -- because we know that anybody's name that we might bring up would be so trashed so quickly that we wouldn't have a friend left. So there are plenty of people out there that could do this job. And I have to leave it at that.
ZAHN: What are the chances, Mr. Disney, that Mr. Eisner will survive all this?
DISNEY: We need to convince people over the next period of time. Whatever that period is, I'm not sure yet. God knows, if I could give you a list of the e-mails and phone calls and Web site comments that we've had over the last two days, it sounds more like a revolution to me than anything else.
ZAHN: I would like to read to you a statement that the Disney board put out -- quote -- "It is a disservice to shareholders and to employees that the company faces this distraction at a time when its performance is improving."
Now, I saw you interpret numbers a little bit differently than a lot of analysts did at the top of this interview. Do you buy into the fact that the company's performance has improved this year and, if it continues, you might even see a 35 percent growth rate?
DISNEY: Well, I can't really comment on those particular percentage kind of numbers.
But, yes, indeed, the company over the last some months has improved. We don't look at it in terms of short-term, quarterly improvements. We look at it -- I particularly happen to have the name Disney attached to me. And I look at it pretty much over a much longer time span. And the last seven, eight, nine years, we've been absolutely flat as a pancake. ZAHN: Mr. Disney, you attempted this tactic back in 1984, when in fact you helped bring in Frank Wells and Michael Eisner. What happens if you fail this time around? What does it mean for the future of the company?
DISNEY: I really don't know.
As I say, if I could predict the future by way of the support I've been shown by hundreds, literally thousands of people -- I've met people on the street who've patted me on the back who I had never met before and said: Good going. Keep it up. Get it done.
So we're not packing up our bags and leaving. We're just out here in the real world. As board members, we were prohibited to talk with you, the press, to talk with shareholders, to talk with anybody, even, practically, amongst ourselves. It was taboo to talk about the company's business. And it was time to leave that situation and come out here and talk about reality to the real world.
ZAHN: In the end, if Mr. Eisner doesn't go, has this been a waste of your time to resign from the board?
DISNEY: Nothing is a waste of time. Living is the most important thing. And we're going to be around here for a long time. So, there's a lot to look forward to in the future.
ZAHN: Roy Disney, thank you for your time this evening. We really appreciate your spending some time with us.
DISNEY: Sure.
