The Walt Disney Co. has been sued by Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, in a lawsuit that alleges that the Disney Board of Directors made false statements to shareholders about its choice of a replacement for outgoing CEO Michael Eisner. The suit also alleges that the board made statements to steer shareholders to keep incumbents on the board. Gold and Disney are requesting that the court void the elections and have another election after “full and fair disclosure of all material facts about the CEO selection process.” One of Disney and Gold’s main criticisms of the board was that it did not look extensively outside of the company in the search to replace Michael Eisner as CEO. According to the two men’s release, Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay Inc., was the only external candidate courted by the board.
