On one level, this is shaping up as perhaps the most acrimonious annual meeting season ever.
Earlier this year, two former Walt Disney directors—Roy Disney and Stanley Gold—seemed to inspire dissidents at other companies when they launched an intense, very public campaign to oust Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner. At the March annual meeting, 43 percent of shareholders wound up withholding their votes for the embattled executive, an unusual event since shareholders historically rubber-stamp their approval for directors, who typically run unopposed anyway.
