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Walt Disney Tasks Morgan Stanley's Gorman to Lead CEO Search

A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Walt Disney Tasks Morgan Stanley's Gorman to Lead CEO Search

A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Walt Disney on Wednesday named board member and Morgan Stanley executive chairman James Gorman to chair its succession planning committee, which is looking for a replacement to longtime CEO Bob Iger.

Disney won a months-long proxy war earlier this year with activist investor Nelson Peltz who argued the company had underperformed in the streaming-television era and criticized its succession planning.

The board has extended Iger's retirement date five times, including pulling him back from an initial retirement in 2022 to replace his hand-picked successor Bob Chapek, Reuters reported.

Last year, Iger, who was the CEO from 2005 to 2020 before his 2022 reappointment, said he would extend his stay through 2026 and "definitely" step down when his contract ends.

Gorman joined as a Disney director this year and oversaw the recent succession process at Morgan Stanley. He was its CEO from 2010 to 2023 and will be ceding his role as executive chairman at Disney in December.

"Succession planning is a top priority of the Board," Disney Chairman Mark Parker said. The company said it was reviewing internal and external candidates for the CEO position.

The company also said Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors and Calvin McDonald, CEO of Lululemon Athletica will continue to serve on the succession planning committee, which has met six times so far in fiscal 2024.

In addition, the board has discussed the search for the next CEO at all of its regularly scheduled meetings this year, Disney said.

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Microsoft Faces UK Lawsuit over Cloud Computing Licenses

A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Faces UK Lawsuit over Cloud Computing Licenses

A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)

Microsoft faces legal action in Britain over a claim that thousands of businesses using cloud computing services provided by Amazon, Google and Alibaba could be paying higher license fees to use Windows Server software.

Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stasi filed a case at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, claiming that British businesses and organizations could collectively be owed more than 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion) in compensation.

"Put simply, Microsoft is punishing UK businesses and organizations for using Google, Amazon and Alibaba for cloud computing by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server," she said.

"By doing so, Microsoft is trying to force customers into using its cloud computing service Azure and restricting competition in the sector."

Separately, Britain's competition regulator is investigating cloud computing, a market dominated by Amazon's AWS, Microsoft's Azure and, to a lesser extent, Google Cloud Platform.

Microsoft's licensing practices, for example for its Windows Server and Microsoft 365 products, are part of its inquiry.

It is due to update on its investigation imminently.

Microsoft in 2020 introduced new license fees for running its software on major cloud providers.

The claim alleges it then used the fees to induce customers to use its Azure platform.

Data from the Competition and Markets Authority published in May showed Microsoft was winning customers at a significantly higher rate than other cloud providers since it made the licensing change.

The United States Federal Trade Commission last week opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, including its cloud computing business, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The FTC is examining allegations the software giant was potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving from Azure to competitive platforms, sources said last month.