With the stock price fluctuating and mounting pressure from Trian Partners activist investor Nelson Peltz, newly installed Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger reportedly spent the holidays enjoying the open waters.
According to a proxy statement filed Thursday by Trian Partners, Iger postponed during a phone call on 20 New Zealand’s coast.”
The virtual meeting was eventually set for Jan. 10, with a Disney Trian representative telling Trian on Dec. 28 that the meeting would be limited to just 30 minutes.
According to the statement, an extra 15 minutes was added at the request of the activist hedge fund after representatives expressed disappointment with the time limit.
When the virtual meeting officially took place earlier this week, a person familiar with the situation told Yahoo Finance that Peltz had found a highly disinterested Disney board of directors. Peltz wasn’t asked a single question, the source added.
“Nelson is gearing up for a fight here,” the source said, noting that Peltz could, among other things, urge Disney to cut spending to boost profits and its declining stock price.
Peltz – who has run successful activist campaigns at well-known brands like P&G – also wants Disney’s dividend cut to be reinstated during the pandemic, the source said. Peltz has yet to decide whether a Disney spin-off from ESPN — as Wall Street has called for in the past — will happen, the source added.
Peltz reportedly owns about $900 million worth of Disney stock and also slammed Iger’s compensation in a lengthy new slide deck titled “Restore the Magic.”
Iger was not made available to Yahoo Finance for an interview.
Nelson Peltz Founding Partner of Trian Fund Management LP. speak at the WSJD Live conference in Laguna Beach, California October 25, 2016. Portal/Mike Blake
Certainly this is shaping up to be one of the uglier activist fights in recent memory – filled with big egos, big money and a big brand.
The story goes on
On Wednesday, Disney announced that Mark Parker, Nike’s executive chairman and former CEO, will take over from Susan Arnold as CEO. The company also recommended that shareholders vote against Peltz in his bid for a seat on the company’s board of directors.
“While senior management at The Walt Disney Company and its board have worked with Mr. Peltz on numerous occasions over the past several months, the board does not endorse Trian Group’s nominee and recommends that shareholders do not endorse his nominee and instead vote FOR all of the company’s nominees (see above),” Disney wrote in a press release.
A source tells Yahoo Finance that Peltz has not been offered an observer role on the board, as previously reported by other media outlets. Instead, the source says, Peltz was offered information-sharing under a non-disclosure agreement and the opportunity to meet with management and the board on a quarterly basis.
According to Thursday’s statement, Peltz had expressed interest in joining Disney’s board of directors back in July and had several discussions with former Disney CEO Bob Chapek before beginning talks with Iger on Nov. 23 — three days after his re-appointment to the board Leading position .
During that meeting in November, Trian officials reportedly stressed that they did not want to engage in a protracted and costly proxy fight and voiced their support for Iger’s return.
At the time, Disney floated the idea of adding a mutually agreed independent director to the board, but Trian emphasized that representation by a Trian partner was aimed at “encouraging an ownership mentality in the boardroom” and “stimulating additional discussions between Disney.” directors on the challenges the company is facing,” the statement said.
Bob Iger, Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company arrives at the world premiere of the film ‘The King’s Man’ at Leicester Square on December 6, 2021 in London, Britain. Portal/Hannah McKay
Disney faced a tough 2022, when shares plunged about 45%, marking the worst annual stock performance for the House of Mouse since 1974.
Streaming profitability, Hulu’s future, and a possible ESPN spinoff are at stake as Iger continues to navigate a troubled company grappling with leadership challenges, unfavorable price hikes, and a direct-to-consumer division. to make profits.
Still, the media giant defended the company’s stock performance under Iger’s watch, noting that the company’s total return during his first tenure as CEO was 554%, beating the 244% total return achieved by the S&P 500 over that period.
Brian Sozzi is a freelance writer and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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