It’s getting complicated — and crowded — in the conference rooms at Cinderella’s Castle.
Everyone has new board members for Disney, it seems. Billionaire Nelson Peltz and his Trian Fund Management have certainly made known their opinion on Disney CEO (and board member) Bob Iger‘s leadership. TL;DR, it’s not positive. This morning, two new activist investors entered the chat.
Iger’s got friends in high places at ValueAct Capital Management and activist hedge fund Blackwells Capital; both stepped up to bat for Bob on Wednesday. In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, ValueAct says it will support the current Disney Board of Directors’ 2024 nominees for the board seats. Iger returned the compliment.
“ValueAct Capital has a track record of collaboration and cooperation with the companies it invests in, and its Co-CEO Mason Morfit has been very constructive in the conversations we’ve had over the past year,” Disney CEO Iger said in a statement shared with IndieWire.
We’re sure you do! In a Wednesday press release, Blackwells put up three nominations of its own for Disney’s board. Disney’s response? “We welcome their input as long-term shareholders,” Iger said.
The Blackwells nominees are former Warner Bros. content-distribution executive Jessica Schell, Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff, and TaskRabbit founder Leah Solivan. Any current board member(s) who lose their seat(s) for those three could come back via a board expansion, Blackwells proposed.
Meanwhile, Trian (the “Dark Side” here if you’ll allow a “Star Wars” metaphor) is seeking two seats: one for its CEO Peltz and another for ex-Disney CFO James Rasulo. ValueAct believes there is a middle-ground option here: new blood on the board could placate Peltz without overhauling Iger’s entire vision.
Blackwells is being a bit less diplomatic. In November, the Jason Aintabi-led fund called the Trian push “misguided” and “ego-driven.” This morning, Aintabi called out Peltz for “peacocking.”
Reps for Trian Fund Management did not immediately respond to IndieWire’s request for comment on this story.
Aintabi has another problem, one that has less to do with Peltz’s antics and more to do with his comparative holdings. Blackwells doesn’t have nearly the pull as Trian has. Blackwells owns about $5 million of Disney stock (DIS), according to Reuters. With disgruntled former Marvel chief Ike Perlmutter’s many, many shares at its disposal, Trian controls 600 times as many shares — about $3 billion worth. Disney’s total market cap is presently about $166 billion.
There is strength in numbers, and while Blackwells does not stand alone, neither does Trian. Peltz has support from another activist hedge fund/Disney investor, Ancora Holdings. Aintabi doesn’t hold that group in high regard, either. Today’s Blackwells press release accuses Ancora of “a pattern of questionable business dealings.” It also suggests that Ancora leader Fred DiSanto, like Peltz/Perlmutter, has a “personal agenda” to settle with Iger.
Peltz vs. Disney has been on and off for more than a year now. With 33 million shares of DIS under his control, most of those Perlmutter’s, Peltz is more emboldened now than in the past. Ike does not like the DIS price (today, about $91 per share), which he believes could be buoyed by reduced spending — including on executives’ salaries.
“I can no longer watch the business underachieve its great potential,” Perlmutter told the Wall Street Journal in October 2023. He blames his emphasis on a return on investment for his March 2023 dismissal from Disney. Perlmutter made his money (and grew his massive stake in Disney) by selling Marvel to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion.
Trian’s official positive is that the Disney board blew it with Iger’s succession plan (the first time around, when Bob Chapek was CEO for all of two years) and worries that will happen again. Iger intends to leave Disney — for good this time — at the end of 2026.
In November, Disney proactively added Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch to its board, growing the group to 13 members. It will automatically lose one member this year when Francis A. deSouza does not stand for reelection — unless the board expands or replaces deSouza.
