NEWS: George Lucas Backs Disney in Ongoing Proxy Battle

The proxy battle at The Walt Disney Company has been ongoing for a while, and with less than a month until the April 3rd shareholders meeting, another person is speaking out.

Magic Kingdom

This time it is the largest individual shareholder of The Walt Disney Company, and he is urging shareholders to vote ahead of the virtual meeting on April 3rd, 2024.

George Lucas is no stranger to Disney fans, and he is speaking out to urge shareholders to vote in the ongoing proxy battle. Back in January 2024, Disney revealed the 12 nominees they endorsed for the board of directors and shared their official rejection of the activist nominees, Nelson Peltz and James Rasulo.

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According to Variety and sources familiar with the company, George Lucas is the largest individual shareholder of stock. Lucas has voted all of his shares for Disney’s 12 directors and is urging other shareholders to do the same, rejecting the nominations of Peltz and Rasulo.

The Shareholder meeting takes place April 3rd

In a statement released on Tuesday, Lucas said, “Creating magic is not for amateurs. When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my longtime admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger’s leadership. When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved. No one knows Disney better. I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob’s track record of driving long-term value.”

©Disney

George Lucas’s statements come amidst additional support for Disney’s 12 directors by grandchildren of Walt Disney and Roy Disney. As well as following the release of a video by Disney to attempt to sway shareholders away from voting in favor of Peltz and Rasulo.

Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo hope to claim board seats at the April 3rd shareholder meeting. Rasulo, ex-CFO of The Walt Disney Company has previously stated that, “as independent voices in the boardroom, Nelson and I are confident that the combination of my decades of experience at Disney, Nelson’s significant boardroom skills and history of driving positive strategic change, and our combined consumer brands expertise and financial acumen, will be additive to the Disney Board.”

We will keep you updated as more news comes out ahead of the vote, and if you are a shareholder, don’t forget to get your votes in ahead of the April 3rd meeting.

Stay tuned to AllEars for even more Disney news!