Uncle scrooge and The Corporative Governance

[asaramelli]

“The latest news is that millionaire Scrooge McDuck decided to break his 
self-imposed pact of silence on this topic and limited himself to answering 
three questions at a press conference in Anaheim, California.  Although not 
directly related to the Disney corporate scandals, the first question 
reflected global curiosity in respect of this individual’s unmatched 
personal fortune.  Asked the journalist, “What was your secret for becoming 
so wealthy?” 
The famously ill-humored McDuck dryly answered, “It’s very 
simple.  I’ve always spent less than I earned and multiplied the 
difference”. 
The second question, straight to the bull’s eye of the 
interview’s core topic, was “Are you a Disney Corporation shareholder?” 
Uncle Scrooge replied, “I have been a small shareholder in the past, since, 
given the nature of my professional involvement with the company, I never 
wished to be a major shareholder, in order to avoid potential conflicts of 
interest. On becoming aware of the appalling quality of the company’s 
Corporate Governance, I tried to convince the members of the board that this 
policy would not add value to the company and that, on the contrary, it 
would destroy share value.  Since I was unsuccessful, in line with Client 
Theory, I sold my stock and bought shares in another company that 
implemented good Corporate Governance practices”.  The last question put to 
McDuck, who was clearly anxious to depart, was “What would be your advice to 
multiply the difference between earnings and expenditures?” Clearly 
exasperated and making his exit, he answered “By diversifying investments 
and, in the case of stock, by only buying from companies with a high level 
of Corporate Governance. 
A very good afternoon to you all”. 



The interview above wasn´t wrote by an Disney Artist. 
It was wrote by a corporative governance expert and professional councelor 
in some brazilian enterprises Mr Luciano Carvalho Ventura. 

The Stock Market confidence is needed for all investors and companies 
operations, but despite of this, it´s not difficult to read in journals bad 
news about corporative governance. 
Luciano Ventura thinked about a Uncle Scrooge "interview" to help comment 
about a bad news with the Disney Company in one his newsletter, posted to 
executives around the world. 

More than the message about corporative governance in the interview, we need 
to see that an character identified by many people as acting in the 50´s, 
old, dead or by many brazilians identified only with the childrens universe, 
was able to act in an modern times situation with sucess. 

For me is umconfortable to see Uncle Scrooge identified as a childrens age 
character. The childrens world is full of new character and the promotion 
action less is the born to create a confusion :  Childrens think that Disney 
histories are too much complex and adults don´t read Disney histories 
because they think it is for children. 

I ask for your attention for the next point : Why many people (like me ) 
keeps on working inside glass panels buildings, with “unpleasure” and hard 
jobs ? There´s nothing better to earns the life ? 
Because the business world is a very motivating world ! And the Disney world 
is the only that show so good the business world. 

So, in a world when to have some fun we need to enter in war equipments like 
flights or military trucks, got exaustive fisically fightings, to operate 
guns, missiles, arh, kill enemies, why not to have some fun trying go over 
the breakeven point ? 
Why not show this Disney skills with promotional actions ? 

Another suggestion for the Disney artists : In our days, traditional and 
classical stolens are very rare. Why not to invite Mickey, with his justice 
sense, to investigate situations in a governance corporative world ? 

Think about ! 

Despite the surname, Luciano Ventura hasn´t family links with Fernando 
Ventura, this last a Disney artist. Both of them only know about each one 
work by this job. 

Now, the Luciano Ventura full text, who runs a specialized 
governance corporative company in são Paulo, and wrote another 
newsletter, with Donald Duck. 

Alexandre Saramelli 


http://www.lcvco.com.br/english/lcvnews05-01-02.htm 




The Walt Disney Corporation will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary as it 
struggles to recover from its own corporate scandals. 

At the beginning of May 2005 the world’s first and largest theme park, 
created by the unrivalled genius of Walt Disney, Disneyland in Anaheim, 
California, will celebrate its 50th anniversary.  The festivities to 
continue for 18 months will not be limited to California, but will extend to 
the World Disney Resort in Florida, the Tokyo Disneyland in Japan, the Paris 
Disneyland Resort, and the Hong Kong Disneyland, this last to be inaugurated 
in December 2005. 

However, all these celebrations are being held in an environment of 
successive corporate scandal in the US courts.  This is due to the abysmal 
quality of the Corporate Governance practiced by the Disney Corporation, 
chiefly in respect of the conflict of interests of the Chairman of the 
corporation’s Board of Directors and the majority of its members.  There is 
the case brought by investors nearly ten years ago at the State of Delaware 
Supreme Court against the members of the company’s Board of Directors, 
allegedly for the fact that the latter frequently and deliberately ignored 
shareholder interests.  Since then, new data has emerged, such as service 
agreements at exorbitant prices drawn up by companies owned by members of 
the Disney Corporation’s Board of Directors.  Michael Eirner, the leader of 
this fraudulent operation, who masked all these irregularities, for over 
twenty years ran one of the world’s best known trademarks, is about to be 
replaced at which time he will, finally, be required to render accounts of 
his actions to the US courts of justice. 

The latest news is that millionaire Scrooge McDuck decided to break his 
self-imposed pact of silence on this topic and limited himself to answering 
three questions at a press conference in Anaheim, California.  Although not 
directly related to the Disney corporate scandals, the first question 
reflected global curiosity in respect of this individual’s unmatched 
personal fortune.  Asked the journalist, “What was your secret for becoming 
so wealthy?” The famously ill-humored McDuck dryly answered, “It’s very 
simple.  I’ve always spent less than I earned and multiplied the 
difference”. The second question, straight to the bull’s eye of the 
interview’s core topic, was “Are you a Disney Corporation shareholder?” 
Uncle Scrooge replied, “I have been a small shareholder in the past, since, 
given the nature of my professional involvement with the company, I never 
wished to be a major shareholder, in order to avoid potential conflicts of 
interest. On becoming aware of the appalling quality of the company’s 
Corporate Governance, I tried to convince the members of the board that this 
policy would not add value to the company and that, on the contrary, it 
would destroy share value.  Since I was unsuccessful, in line with Client 
Theory, I sold my stock and bought shares in another company that 
implemented good Corporate Governance practices”.  The last question put to 
McDuck, who was clearly anxious to depart, was “What would be your advice to 
multiply the difference between earnings and expenditures?” Clearly 
exasperated and making his exit, he answered “By diversifying investments 
and, in the case of stock, by only buying from companies with a high level 
of Corporate Governance. A very good afternoon to you all”.