Disney has reportedly garnered enough shareholder votes to defeat a challenge to its board brought by activist investor Nelson Peltz.
Sources said Reuters Enough votes had been cast Tuesday night to put Disney chiefs ahead of their rivals. The results will be announced at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday.
Peltz had nominated himself and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to the entertainment giant’s board of directors, criticizing CEO Bob Iger as “underperforming.”
His firm, Trian Fund Management, which owns about $2.5 billion in Disney stock, filed in January, setting off Peltz’s second proxy war at the company in just two years.
The firm is supported by the influential advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, which recommended its clients vote in favor of Peltz.
Disney has reportedly garnered enough shareholder votes to defeat a challenge to its board from Nelson Peltz.
Peltz is a supporter of Donald Trump and a long-time critic of Disney’s move toward “woke” messages.
He launched his first proxy war last January, calling on Disney to “restore the magic” and criticizing CEO Bob Iger.
Peltz had nominated himself and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo (right) to the entertainment giant’s board of directors, criticizing Iger as “underperforming.”
Disney lashed out with a political-style video criticizing the activist shareholder’s motivations and qualifications.
The video said Peltz has a long history of “attacking companies to the ultimate detriment” of shareholders and that it would be “disruptive” and “value-destructive” to include him and his sidekick Jay Rasulo.
‘Disney could suffer the same fate as other large companies that Peltz has infiltrated before, such as GE and DuPont. “Nelson Peltz has a long history of attacking companies to the detriment of shareholder value,” the narrator states.
He said Peltz’s pursuit of a board seat “seems more a matter of vanity than a belief in Disney.”
In the video and regulatory filing, Disney highlighted Peltz’s connection to former Marvel Entertainment president Ike Perlmutter, whom it describes as a “disgruntled former employee” with a personal grudge against Iger.
Peltz, Brooklyn Beckham’s father-in-law, argued in his own filing that Disney was slow to adapt to industry changes, including streaming, made mistakes in its acquisition strategy and failed in succession planning.
The billionaire is a Trump supporter and longtime critic of Disney’s move toward “woke.”
She recently criticized Disney for its all-female and black casts in an interview with the Financial Times.
‘Why do I have to have a Marvel made up exclusively of women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need a completely black cast? Peltz said.
He launched his first proxy war last January, calling on Disney to “restore the magic” amid criticism that the media conglomerate had become too political.
He withdrew from the initial fight after Iger unveiled a cost-cutting plan involving 7,000 layoffs and restructuring to save about $5.5 billion.
However, Disney shares falling 12.5 percent over the past year has led the activist investor to renew his bid for power.
Trian Investment Fund owns about 33 million shares, making it one of the largest investors among Disney’s 1.8 billion shares.
Disney said Peltz has a long history of “attacking companies to the ultimate detriment” of shareholders and said it would be “disturbing” to include him and his sidekick Jay Rasulo.
Peltz recently criticized Disney for its all-female and black casts in an interview with the Financial Times.
Iger is said to be “overwhelmed and exhausted” after extending his contract for three more years while battling falling stock prices and challenges to his leadership.
In September, Iger revealed that the company will “quiet the noise” around cultural issues because it has proven to be detrimental to business.
The company has been caught in a legal battle with the Florida government and Ron DeSantis after former CEO Bob Chapek criticized the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
DeSantis targeted Disney World’s special tax district, replaced its board of directors with his allies and led the effort to rename the Reedy District the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
Before DeSantis’ elected board of directors took control, Disney created a development agreement for future investments. These were dismissed by the new board, leading to a federal lawsuit.
Disney has since dropped a large part of its federal lawsuit against Florida’s governor.
Iger extended his contract through 2026 and hinted that he will retire again at that time, once a suitable successor has been found and named.