Disney Emerges Victorious From Expensive, Months-Long Proxy Battle With Billionaire Activist Peltz
For Bob Iger, life could be a dream… if only he stayed in retirement. Instead, he’s returned to replace Bob Chapek, his handpicked successor, just to re-inherit a $220B Rubik’s Cube to solve. On one side is Disney’s declining streaming growth; on the other are activist investors calling for change.
End of the line: In recent months, billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz and former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter campaigned for Disney board seats — claiming the company had lost its magic and needed a new direction. But on Wednesday, Disney announced that shareholders voted overwhelmingly to keep Iger and the current board, rejecting the activists’ candidates.
- Although proxy giant ISS backed Peltz ahead of the long-awaited vote, institutional giants BlackRock and Vanguard sided with Iger.
- Peltz received just 31% of the votes, with individual shareholders, who own 40% of Disney, firmly supporting Iger.
Spreading pixie dust
Despite recent distractions, has climbed nearly 50% since last October but remains down almost 40% from its peak. Gerber Kawasaki’s president and co-founder told Bloomberg that “people are starting to recognize” that may be cheap relative to similar companies, especially Netflix. Analysts are becoming bullish as Iger moves from restructuring the business to actually growing it.
- Disney finally has a clear streaming strategy combining Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu — but questions remain if traditional linear TV networks like ABC and FX will be sold.
- Investors are also eyeing Disney’s $1.5B investment and partnership with Fortnite creator Epic Games, which aims to expand Disney’s reach to younger consumers.
The true cost: Disney’s proxy battle might go down in history as one of the most expensive, with Business Insider reporting over $70M spent by the company and activists to reach voters. However, if Iger and Disney’s management fail to deliver on promises, another campaign could quickly follow — but at least for now, the media giant gets its happy ending.
Read: Proxy Elections Could Change Corporate America — But Most Americans Don’t Even Know About Them
