The Walt Disney Company has been involved in a heated proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz, who is petitioning to get multiple seats on the Company’s Board of Directors. Trian Partners nominated Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to be elected to the Board, but Disney has made it clear they don’t endorse either candidate.
The Walt Disney Company headquarters in California
Both Disney and CEO Bob Iger have urged shareholders to vote against Peltz and Rasulo, with some help from cartoon allies and Walt Disney’s own grandchildren. It all comes to a head at the Annual Shareholders Meeting, which is why tomorrow is such a big day for the Walt Disney Company.
The Walt Disney Company Annual Shareholders Meeting is taking place on April 3rd, and it could very well change the future of the company. This is when shareholders of the Walt Disney Company will vote on Nelson Peltz’s (and others’) attempt to gain seats on the company’s Board of Directors.
The Walt Disney Company
Trian nominated Peltz and former Disney CFO James Rasulo to the Walt Disney Company board back in December. They later released a statement that said the group “Believes the Disney Board’s lack of focus, alignment, and accountability has resulted in chronic underperformance at one of the world’s most iconic companies.”
©Getty Images
Disney has previously stated that “the Board does NOT endorse the nominations of Nelson Peltz and James Rasulo put forth by Trian Fund Management, L.P. and its affiliates, led by Nelson Peltz and supported by former Disney executive Isaac Perlmutter (collectively, the “Trian Group”).” The notice went on to say, “The Board recommends that shareholders do not vote for the Trian Group nominees and that they reject a related proposal from the Trian Group to amend the Company Bylaws.”
Disney also made it clear that the Board “does not endorse the nominations of Craig Hatkoff, Jessica Schell and Leah Solivan put forth for election as directors by Blackwells Onshore I LLC, Blackwells Capital LLC and Jason Aintabi (collectively, the “Blackwells Group”).”
©Trian Partners
Disney has put forth a list of 12 nominees for the board. Here are the people that Disney endorses:
- Mary T. Barra — Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors Co.
- Safra A. Catz — Chief Executive Officer of Oracle Corp. and its former President
- Amy L. Chang — former senior executive at Cisco Systems, Inc. and Google and a current director of Procter & Gamble Co.
- D. Jeremy Darroch — former Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Sky
- Carolyn N. Everson — former senior executive at Instacart, Meta Platforms, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and a current director of The Coca-Cola Co. and Under Armour Inc.
- Michael B.G. Froman — President of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Vice Chairman and President, Strategic Growth at Mastercard Inc.
- James P. Gorman — Executive Chairman and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley
- Robert A. Iger — Disney’s Chief Executive Officer, formerly also served as Chairman
- Maria Elena Lagomasino — Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of WE Family Offices and a former senior executive at JP Morgan Private Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank and a current director of The Coca-Cola Co.
- Calvin R. McDonald — Chief Executive Officer of lululemon athletica inc.
- Mark G. Parker — serves as Chairman of the Disney Board, is Executive Chairman of NIKE, Inc. and its former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
- Derica W. Rice. — former senior executive at CVS Health Corp. and Eli Lilly and Co. and a current director of The Carlyle Group Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Target Corp.
Disney
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see how Disney shareholders vote to find out whether or not Peltz and Rasulo (or Blackwells Capital) are able to take control of Disney’s Board of Directors.
We’ll be bringing you all the updates you need to know from the Walt Disney Company shareholder meeting on April 3rd at 1PM ET/10AM PT, so stay tuned to DFB for the latest news.
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Honestly as bad as Disney and Iger have done in recent years, I think it would be a good thing to get others that are not liberals on the board. Maybe we could get rid of the woke stuff and they could produce movies I would want to go see.