PHILADELPHIA, March 3 (UPI) -- Shareholders Wednesday delivered a resounding no-confidence vote to Walt Disney Chairman Michael Eisner at a Philadelphia meeting.
Speculation before the meeting had been rife that Eisner would have to give up the chairmanship as the price of remaining chief executive.
Growing shareholder dissatisfaction with Eisner's performance has been expressed by well-publicized refusals to support his re-election to the board.
Shareholders cast 43 percent of votes against Eisner -- outstripping the 30 percent predicted by the company.
Analyst Richard Greenfield of Fulcrum Global Partners told CNBC no chairman of a public company has ever seen more than a 28 percent withheld.
Roy Disney, cousin of Walt Disney, and Stanley Gold, both former board members who resigned after conflicts with Eisner, attended the meeting to urge shareholders to demand Eisner's removal.
"We're not going away until Mr. Eisner is gone," Gold said. "We'll be here next week, next month, next year. Whatever it takes. We don't believe he's capable of running this company any more."
