Disney shareholders have officially rejected the names proposed by the Trian Partners fund for the board of directors, in particular Nelson Peltz (strongly supported by Ike Perlmutter) and Jay Rasulo, as well as those proposed by Blackwells Capital. The 12 directors proposed by Disney for re-election obtained a wide margin of votes in their favor.
The CEO Bob Igerin particular, obtained 94% of the votes in his favor, while Peltz obtained 31% and Rasulo even less.
If until a few weeks ago there were no doubts about the victory of Iger and his team of advisors, in the last few days – even in the last hours – tension has mounted after Peltz received the support of influential shareholders such as CalPERS, the largest large US pension fund. It got to the point that in the hours before the closing of the vote, someone from the Disney side clearly pushed a “leak” towards the most important trades in which it was claimed that the major had all the numbers to win.
This concludes what was probably the most expensive proxy battle in American history: Disney reportedly spent something like 40 million dollars to “chase” the various investors. By contrast, Trian would have spent around $25 million, and Blackwells $6 million. Compared to other Hollywood studios, Disney is owned by a myriad of small and medium individual investors (including many families), who own over a third of the company’s shares and often do not vote: for this reason it was necessary to chase each of them and invite them to vote.
Disney shares, which after the declines of the last two years had returned to growing dramatically in recent months, yesterday lost 3.1% to 112.5 dollars.
Winners and losers: declarations
These are the statements of chairman Mark Parker after the vote:
We are immensely grateful to our shareholders for their investment in Disney and their confidence in its future, particularly during this time of great change in the industry. We are fortunate to have such a qualified board of directors who are deeply committed to ensuring the strength of the company and have a wealth of experience and expertise, including succession planning.
Iger added:
I want to thank our shareholders for their trust in our board and management. This proxy battle distracted us too much, but it’s behind us, and we can’t wait to focus 100% on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders, creative excellence for our consumers.
Trian also released a statement:
We are disappointed with the outcome of this proxy fight, but Trian greatly appreciates all the support and dialogue he has had with Disney shareholders. We are proud of the impact we have had in convincing the company to focus on value creation and good economic management. Since we began communicating with the company again in late 2023, Disney has announced a number of initiatives and enhancements aimed at growing capital.
Over the last six months, Disney shares have risen 50%, becoming the best performer of the year on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We thank Trian investors for placing their trust in our efforts. And we wish Disney shareholders, including the board of directors, the best. We will observe the company’s performance and focus on its success.
Actually Bob Iger has set in motion a series of actions in recent months clearly aimed at defusing Peltz’s efforts and maximizing the stock’s results: it has cut expenses significantly (among other things, firing thousands of employees around the world), it resolved the Hulu issue by acquiring the shares of Comcast and then starting the integration with Disney+, it even gave up a probable victory in court against the state of Florida by reaching an agreement on the special district where Disney World is located. All to take away arguments from Peltz. A strategy that paid off, but which according to Iger wasted the company’s time in a historical moment in which it is necessary to make courageous strategic decisions to face the paradigmatic changes exacerbated first by the pandemic and then by last year’s strikes. Time is running out above all for the fundamental choice of a successor to Iger before his contract expires in 2026.
