Nelson
Peltz,
founder
and
chief
executive
officer
of
Trian
Fund
Management,
during
the
Future
Investment
Initiative
(FII)
Institute
Priority
Summit
in
Miami,
Florida,
US,
on
Thursday,
March
30,
2023.
Marco
Bello
|
Bloomberg
|
Getty
Images
Activist
investor
Nelson
Peltz
and
his
firm
are
seeking
more
than
two
seats
on
Disney’s
board,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
the
matter,
setting
the
stage
for
a
proxy
fight.
Trian
Fund
Management,
which
Peltz
co-founded,
said
Thursday
morning
that
it
“intends
to
take
our
case
for
change
directly
to
shareholders.”
Disney,
for
its
part,
suggested
the
proxy
fight
stemmed
from
a
personal
grudge
held
by
one
of
Peltz’s
allies,
former
Marvel
boss
Ike
Perlmutter.
Trian
said
Disney
earlier
in
the
day
offered
to
set
up
a
meeting
with
the
entertainment
giant’s
board,
but
rejected
Trian’s
bid
to
join
the
board,
including
the
addition
of
Peltz.
Trian
did
not
note
in
a
statement
how
many
seats
it
plans
to
seek.
Trian
declined
to
comment
beyond
its
statement.
The
news
came
the
morning
after
Disney
added
Morgan
Stanley
CEO
James
Gorman
and
former
Sky
TV
boss
Jeremy
Darroch
to
its
board,
a
move
widely
seen
as
a
bid
to
fend
off
a
potential
challenge
from
Peltz.
Former
Illumina
CEO
Francis
deSouza
will
not
seek
reelection
to
the
board.
“While
James
Gorman
and
Sir
Jeremy
Darroch
represent
an
improvement
from
the
status
quo,
the
addition
of
these
directors
will
not,
in
our
view,
restore
investor
confidence
or
address
the
root
cause
behind
the
significant
value
destruction
and
missteps
that
this
Board
has
overseen,”
Trian
said
in
a
statement.
Disney
shares
are
up
about
6%
this
year,
far
underperforming
the
S&P
500.
The
stock
was
flat
Thursday.
Later
in
the
day,
the
company
said
it
would
reinstate
its
dividend
at
30
cents
a
share
for
shareholders
of
record
as
of
Dec.
11,
payable
Jan.
10.
Iger
had
said
earlier
this
year
Disney
would
bring
back
the
dividend,
which
it
suspended
in
early
2020
during
the
first
days
of
the
pandemic.
Trian
said
it
owns
about
$3
billion
in
Disney
stock.
The
firm
has
oversight
of
shares
owned
by
former
executive
Perlmutter,
a
critic
of
Disney
chief
Bob
Iger
whom
the
company
fired
earlier
this
year.
Disney
fired
back
Thursday,
saying
Perlmutter
has
an
ax
to
grind
against
Iger.
Perlmutter
has
long
complained
that
Disney
had
spent
too
much.
“Mr.
Peltz,
in
partnership
with
Isaac
Perlmutter,
a
former
Disney
executive,
intends
to
take
its
case
to
shareholders.
Mr.
Perlmutter
owns
78%
of
the
shares
that
Mr.
Peltz
claims
beneficial
ownership
of,
or
more
than
25
million
of
the
33
million
shares,”
Disney
said
in
a
statement.
“This
dynamic
is
relevant
to
assessing
Mr.
Peltz
and
any
other
nominees
he
may
put
forth
as
directors,
as
Mr.
Perlmutter
was
terminated
from
his
employment
by
Disney
earlier
this
year
and
has
voiced
his
longstanding
personal
agenda
against
Disney’s
CEO,
Robert
A.
Iger,
which
may
be
different
than
that
of
all
other
shareholders,”
the
company
added.
Peltz
had
earlier
pushed
for
a
seat
on
Disney’s
board
after
Trian
took
an
approximately
$800
million
stake
in
Disney.
After
Iger
unveiled
a
broad
restructuring
of
the
company
in
February,
enacting
layoffs
and
cost
cuts,
Peltz
backed
off
a
proxy
fight.
But
Peltz
reignited
his
push
in
the
lead-up
to
Disney’s
quarterly
earnings
report
earlier
this
month.
The
activist
investor
had
been
waiting
to
see
what
happened
with
the
report
to
decide
whether
to
make
a
move,
CNBC
previously
reported.
Iger
on
Tuesday
said
he
was
focused
on
“building
again”
and
intends
to
focus
efforts
on
theme
parks,
ESPN’s
upcoming
streaming
service
and
improving
the
studio
business.
–
CNBC’s
Alex
Sherman
contributed
to
this
report.
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