DISNEY WINS SHAREHOLDERS SUIT

Outgoing Disney CEO Michael Eisner acknowledges fans during a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony July 14, 2005. A court decision yesterday cleared the Walt Disney Co. in connection with a lucrative severance package given to former company president Michael Ovitz. Ruminating on Eisner, the ruling judge wrote: "By virtue of his Machiavellian (and imperial) nature as CEO, and his control over (Michael) Ovitz's hiring in particular, Eisner to a large extent is responsible for the failings in process that infected and handicapped the board's decisionmaking abilities. "Eisner," the judge continues, "stacked his (and I intentionally write "his" as opposed to "the Company's") board of directors with friends and other acquaintances who, though not necessarily beholden to him in a legal sense, were certainly more willing to accede to his wishes and support him unconditionally than truly independent directors." . (UPI Photo/Jim Ruymen/File