Disney Defends CEO Bob Iger, Insists Activist Investor Lacks “Skills and Experience”

Disney recently named Mark Parker as the new Board Chair for the Walt Disney Company — but that doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing from here.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners is still fighting for a seat on the Board, saying that “the company has eroded shareholder value in recent years.” Disney shared a statement notifying shareholders that the Board did not endorse Peltz — and now they’ve driven that point home.

Disney will host its Annual Meeting for shareholders soon, and that means there’s a vote to be had — who will be the next Chairman of the Board? The company has already named Mark Parker for the new role, but Disney shareholders will still be able to vote yay or nay on Parker.

Who else might they vote for, you ask? Nelson Peltz, of Trian Partners has made an official bid for a seat on the board. Disney had previously shared a statement indicating they did not support Peltz for the role and urged shareholders to vote for Parker instead:

“The Walt Disney Company remains open to constructive engagement and ideas that help drive shareholder value. While senior leadership of The Walt Disney Company and its Board of Directors have engaged with Mr. Peltz numerous times over the last few months, the Board does not endorse the Trian Group nominee, and recommends that shareholders not support its nominee, and instead vote FOR all the Company’s nominees (noted above).”

And now, in a recent SEC filing from Disney, the company defended its position and once again urged shareholders to vote for Mark Parker at the meeting.

“Your vote is especially important at this year’s Annual Meeting. As you may have seen, Trian Partners L.P. and Trian Partners Parallel Fund I, L.P., wholly owned subsidiaries of Trian Fund Management, L.P., along with other entities affiliated with Nelson Peltz (collectively, the “Trian Group”), have nominated Nelson Peltz for election as a director at the Annual Meeting in opposition to the nominees recommended by your Board and to bring a proposal to amend our Bylaws before the meeting (the “Trian Group Proposal”).”

The filing continues, “Your Board does not endorse the Trian Group nominee or the Trian Group Proposal and unanimously recommends that you vote “FOR” the election of the nominees proposed by your Board…”

Disney was also quick to defend current CEO Bob Iger and the company’s decision to bring him back based on past acquisitions. “We are confident that Bob’s deep understanding of the Company and industry through his four decades of experience at Disney, including 15 years as CEO, positions him well to set the strategic direction for our continued value creation, which he has a strong track record of delivering.”

They also confirmed that Iger was “simultaneously prioritizing assisting the Board in identifying, developing and mentoring a successor CEO, a process which has already begun.”

Disney’s pick for Chairman of the Board, Mark Parker, has been tasked with leading the process of finding the next CEO via a Succession Planning Committee comprised of board members.

Peltz, on the other hand, had previously expressed his resentment for Disney’s acquisition of Fox, but Disney said that Fox had “broadened its intellectual property portfolio further” and provided the company with other possible contenders for Iger’s successor, according to CNBC.

Disney was reportedly open to making Peltz a board observer at one point, which would allow him to sit in on meetings and offer advice without giving him voting privileges. But, Peltz called Disney’s streaming strategy out in the recent filing, indicating it was “struggling with profitability, despite reaching similar revenues as Netflix and having a significant IP advantage.” Disney owns the IP available on its streaming service, while other platforms like Netflix do not.

Now it seems as though Disney has no interest in Peltz’s involvement on the board, sharing, “despite months of engagement, Mr. Peltz had not, and the Trian Group representatives at the meeting had not, actually presented a single strategic idea for Disney, that their assessment of Disney seemed oblivious to the secular change that had been ongoing in the media industry, as well as the impact of the pandemic on each part of the Company’s business from production, to exhibition, to leisure travel.”

We’ll continue to keep an eye on this situation for more updates. As of now, the Annual Shareholder Meeting date has not been shared with the public — so stay tuned to AllEars for more.

See Everything That Has CHANGED Since Bob Iger Returned to Disney

What do you think will happen at the Annual Meeting? Let us know in the comments!