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On November 22, 2022, Bob Chapek was unceremoniously fired from his position as CEO of The Walt Disney Company. At the same time as Chapek’s firing was announced, Disney’s Board of Directors shared that Bob Iger would be returning to the role, which he held previously for fifteen years. Unfortunately for Iger, the Disney that he returned to was not the same Disney he left.
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A few months after Iger took over, his power within Disney was threatened by a billionaire investor. Activist investor Nelson Peltz — the founder of Trian Management Fund — said that he would be seeking a seat on Disney’s board. He planned to ask the shareholders to vote on and approve of his board seat. However, Peltz backed down when Iger said that he would be cutting $5.5 billion from the company’s budget.
Just a couple of months ago, Peltz revealed that he was renewing his board fight. Only this time, he was going after more than one seat.
Credit: Disney
That fight has now begun.
On January 18, Trian Partners officially nominated Nelson Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to Disney’s Board of Directors. The move came just two days after Disney released its nomination list. Neither Peltz nor Mr. Rasulo were on Disney’s list. In fact, Disney has asked its shareholders to outright reject Peltz’s and Rasulo’s nominations.
Credit: YouTube – Bloomberg Wealth
Related: Disney Lands Huge Blow as Billionaire Investor Attempts Hostile Takeover
Trian and Peltz’s main reason for trying to gain seats on Disney’s board is that they do not think that Disney is doing enough to make money for its shareholders. Should the two men get the seats they want, their main focus would be on how to make more money for its shareholders. Peltz has never once mentioned Disney’s fans and guests or the Disney experience.
Credit: CNBC
One of Disney’s biggest concerns is that they do not believe that Peltz has pure intentions when it comes to his board seat. The Trian Group controls about $3 million in Disney stock, and most of that stock is owned by Ike Perlmutter. Perlmutter is a former Marvel executive who was laid off last March.
Perlmutter claims that Disney laid him off because he didn’t support the “woke” direction the company was taking. The former Marvel exec is a big supporter of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and reportedly told DeSantis that he was right to go after Disney.
Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Related: Will Disney Become “Anti-Woke” If Latest Coup Attempt is Successful?
Bob Iger and the rest of the Disney Board have said that they feel Peltz is only trying to get a seat on the board so that Perlmutter can try to control the direction that the company goes in, in terms of social issues and creating more diverse characters and storylines. They believe that Peltz has an agenda and does not have the company’s best interests in mind.
Credit: LinkedIn/Marvel
Disney, ignoring Peltz’s request for a board seat, has nominated Mary T. Barra, Safra A. Catz, Amy L. Chang, D. Jeremy Darroch, Carolyn N. Everson, Michael B.G. Froman, James P. Gorman, Robert A. Iger, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Calvin R. McDonald, Mark G. Parker and Derica W. Rice.
Whose side are you on, Bob Iger or Nelson Peltz? Let us know in the comments!
I stand 100 % behind Mr. Iger.
I am with Peltz. Disney has laid its line in the sand and buried itself.
I support Peltz in getting a seat on the board. Maybe they should leave an extra space for Elon Musk.