What the Disney verdict means for boards of directors
If nothing else, the lawsuit concerning the hiring and firing of Michael Ovitz by the Walt Disney Company has ensured that corporate-governance can never again be dismissed as irredeemably boring. The trial, although concerning events at the media giant in 1995-96, commanded acres of space in the sorts of gossipy society magazines that had not hitherto been interested in the nuances of directors' fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders.
The trial, before Delaware's Court of Chancery, generated much colourful detail, most of it highly embarrassing to all concerned, especially Mr Ovitz and Disney's then chief executive, Michael Eisner, who fell out spectacularly with the longtime friend he had hired as his number two and ended up 14 months later paying a package worth $140m to go away.
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