Disney Shareholders Back Board

Walt Disney Co. shareholders on Wednesday re-elected all the company’s directors who were up to be returned to the board. The shareholders voted at the annual meeting of the Burbank entertainment and media giant taking place at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Among the 11 directors returning to the Disney board are Chief Executive Robert Iger and Sheryl K. Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook Inc. Votes were also taken on appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company’s independent accountants for the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30 and on an advisory resolution on executive compensation. Shareholders rejected two other proposals regarding lobbying disclosure and the proxy access bylaw. Media reports said that shareholders were shown footage from Disney’s much anticipated second “Star Wars” film “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which comes to theaters in December. The Los Angeles Times reported that Iger defended the company’s ABC News and ESPN from a remark from a shareholder that both television networks were biased in coverage of the Trump administration. “The charge that ESPN is exhibiting significant political bias is just a complete exaggeration,” Iger was quoted by the Times, who added that he was “proud of the efforts of ABC News.” Shares in Disney closed down 2 cents, or a fraction of a percent, to $110.84 on the New York Stock Exchange.