Jeffrey Katzenberg

In reference to the settlement of the Jeffrey Katzenberg/Michael Eisner disagreement (July 8): A settlement of that amount [analysts speculate between $250 million and $275 million] to one man is obscene and my hope is that he plans on giving most of it away to people who can use it. It’s my belief that at some point, your work or the deal you make should stop making you money or, better, the money you make should go not to you, your relatives or cronies, but somewhere where it’s really needed.

Find a good, round and generous figure. How about $40 million a year? After that, redistribute it, give it away! How much money do Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, David Geffen and, yes, Katzenberg and Eisner, et al. need to be, ah, happy?

We’ve gone from railroads, oil and the like of the late 1800s to entertainment, technology and sports in the latter part of this century. The disparity between rich and poor may even rival that of the last century. These guys may be a little hipper or nerdier but, in the end, they are no different and every bit as greedy and power mad as the robber barons of days gone by.

MARTIN SCHOEN

Pasadena