Disney Strikes Back at Activist Investor Ahead of Upcoming Shareholder Meeting

With a little under a month left to go until The Walt Disney Company’s April 3rd shareholders meeting, the proxy battle between the Company and activist investors is heating up yet again.

Disney’s 12 nominees for the next Board of Directors are battling for seats against activist investors Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo with the Trian Group, as well as Blackwells Capital. Most popular among the headlines are comments made by Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Rasulo. Peltz recently released a 133-page white paper where he shared his belief as to why Disney was unsuccessful. He shared that Disney’s current Board was the “root cause of Disney’s underperformance.” Now, Disney has responded.

Disney released a new video where they once again try to sway shareholders from voting in favor of Peltz and Rasulo.

The video claims that Peltz has a “long history of attacking companies to the ultimate detriment,” and that his wish to attain a seat on the Board of Directors seems more about vanity than a belief in Disney.

As for former CFO Jay Rasulo, the video claimed that he’s been unemployed since he left Disney, when he was passed over for promotion nearly a decade ago.

Disney said, “Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo threaten to jeopardize the incredible progress the company has made since Bob [Iger] returned as CEO… At this critical moment, we simply cannot let that happen.”

Plus, Disney brings up Peltz’s relationship with former Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter. Disney argues that Perlmutter is a “disgruntled former employee” who has a personal grudge against Bob Iger.

The Trian Group’s response was that Disney’s video included “false and misleading statements designed to divert from Disney’s poor performance over many years.”

We’ve always got our eye out for more Disney news, so make sure to follow along so that you’re always in the loop and never miss a thing.

Looking for more on the ongoing proxy battle? Click here! 

Will you be tuning in to the shareholders meeting? Let us know in the comments!

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