Activist investor Nelson Peltz on Wednesday was preparing to tackle Walt Disney after the entertainment giant rejected his offer for a board seat.
That is the second time in six months that an activist shareholder has put pressure on Disney. Last yr, billionaire Daniel Loeb pushed for change. In November, the corporate reinstated old boss Bob Iger as CEO.
On Wednesday, Disney also named Nike independent director and executive chairman Mark Parker as its next president, succeeding Susan Arnold, who is not going to be running for re-election. Parker may even chair a newly formed succession planning committee that can advise the board on CEO succession planning.
Disney shares were up 1.4% in prolonged trading. The shares fell last yr as losses deepened in its streaming business, and the worth is now half what it was in 2021.
Peltz’s Trian Fund Management LP, which owns lower than 5% of Disney, believes Iger mustn’t regain control of the corporate and has pushed for operational changes and value cuts, a source accustomed to the matter told Reuters in November.
![Nelson Peltz](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/nelson-peltz-disney.jpg?w=1024)
In response to media reports, the fund bought the stake this month after Disney posted disappointing earnings. Peltz has signaled interest in a board seat.
Trian believes Disney uses excessive compensatory practices and lacks cost discipline, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesdayciting people accustomed to the matter.
Trian can also be critical of management overpaying for twenty first Century Fox’s assets and aggressive bidding on pay-TV giant Sky PLC, he told the WSJ.
Peltz, who often portrays himself as a partner providing constructive advice to firms, had a fierce proxy battle with Procter & Gamble a number of years ago and won a seat on the board. Last yr, Trian built stakes in Britain’s Unilever and burger chain Wendy’s.
Trian’s investments have generally been positive for corporate stocks.
“Trian believes Disney’s recent results reflect the hard truth that it’s an organization in crisis, with many challenges affecting investor sentiment,” the hedge fund said in a press release. Trian owns roughly 9.4 million Disney shares value $900 million.
“For shareholders, whether or not Peltz wins the battle, it appears his move has made Disney management more aggressive in implementing improvements and fine-tuning its strategy,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors. .
![Bob Iger](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/bob-iger.jpg?w=1024)
“I’ll get a box of popcorn to observe this show!” Shulman said.
Disney said Trian nominated Peltz for a seat on the board in opposition to the corporate’s nominees.
Disney said that while its senior management and board of directors have “engaged with Mr. Peltz again and again over the previous couple of months, the board doesn’t support Trian Group’s nominee.”
Iger who got here back since retiring in November, he promised deal with cost-cutting and profitability after the fledgling Disney+ streaming operation became a worldwide giant but lost numerous money. Disney said it expects the business to interrupt even by 2024.
Third Point’s Loeb has pushed Disney to spin off sports television network ESPN and speed up Hulu’s planned acquisition of minority owner Comcast Corp CMCSA.O.
Loeb later tweeted that he had a greater understanding of ESPN’s value to Disney. Third Point also pushed Disney to refresh its board and reached a settlement in September that handed over the positioning to former Meta executive Carolyn Everson.
Meanwhile, Parker, while Nike’s CEO, made a board reshuffle in 2018 after learning of allegations that Nike executives were “sloppy drunk” and preying on subordinates, in line with an unclosed lawsuit against the sneaker giant for sex discrimination gender.