Small Business Reading Room

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Delaware in the News

Sleepy little Georgetown Delaware, a town of 4,751 in Sussex County is the scene of a mighty battle of the titans of corporate America.

The Story of the Walt Disney Company's 1995 hiring and 1996 firing of Michael Ovitz is one of loyalty, deceit and shifting allegences.

It also shows how tough it can be to resolve complicated issues in a corporation. The lawsuit that is playing out in the Delaware Chancery Court alleges that Mr. Ovitz should not have received his large severance package since he was fired for cause. The CEO of Disney is Michael Eisner and he is a member of the Board of Directors. He is also the one who hired and later fired Mr. Ovitz.

So Mr. Eisner must walk a fine line. He must justify his firing of the man, but he must not make it appear that it was "for cause" or he appears incompetent for not dissallowing the large severance package (~$140M).

This is the type of large scale, complicated matter that the Delaware Chancery Court deals with every day. Delaware entities have access to these highly competent, business knowledgable judges. See more about Delawares' Chancery Court here: http://courts.state.de.us/Courts/Court%20of%20Chancery/

posted by Larry at 8:13 AM - permalink 0 comments

Small Business Reading Room

Delaware in the News

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