Disney’s Iger and Peltz square up ahead of proxy vote

Source: Disney

Disney and its CEO Bob Iger and activist investor Nelson Peltz are in the final stages of rallying support for next week’s proxy vote battle over Peltz’s campaign to secure board representation for himself and one-time Disney CFO Jay Rasulo.

As the two sides square up for the battle at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on April 3, Disney’s board is focusing on a defence of Iger’s own record.

Peltz has claimed not to be targeting Iger personally and to want him to continue to serve as CEO, but this week his Trian Partners withheld its votes for Iger’s re-election to the board.

In a statement prior to that move, Trian noted that “Disney has emphasised that Mr. Iger is admired and respected (including, for example, by service providers and advisors ), which we do not doubt”, and claimed that its “campaign is not about Mr. Iger, nor is it a referendum on his leadership”.

However, Trian also said that the fact that “Disney spends so much time and ink defending Mr. Iger – while saying almost nothing about the two director candidates whose reelection Trian is challenging – is both troubling and telling”.

Peltz’s outfit targeted the Disney board, accusing it of having “botched its most important job – CEO succession – by installing Bob Chapek in that role seemingly without appropriate vetting or oversight” before Chapek’s subsequent departure and Iger’s recall.

Last week, director of various companies who have worked with Peltz put their names to an open letter to the Disney board attesting that the investor “ entered the boardroom every meeting with an open mind” and “contributed greatly to boardroom discussions” without being “disruptive and disrespectful”.

Peltz has also secured the powerful support of investor advisory firm ISS for his own board place (but not Rasulo’s).

Disney meanwhile has secured the support of powerful names including JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, Steve Jobs’ widow (and major Disney shareholder) Lauren Powell Jobs, ValueAct CEO Mason Morfitt, filmmaker George Lucas and the grandchildren of Walt Disney himself.

Last week Peltz, interviewed by the FT, attacked Disney for ‘wokeness’ in producing the all-female The Marvels super-hero movie and the all-black cast Black Panther.