The drama continues to play out at the highest levels of Disney, with activist investor Nelson Peltz pushing for changes in the constitution of the company’s board of directors.
Peltz’s New York-based investment firm Trian Partners has been increasing its ownership of Disney stock and gaining additional influence at the company, which he accuses of having made significant missteps in recent years. Peltz calls out Disney CEO Bob Iger for a costly decision to acquire Twentieth Century Fox in 2019 its costly investment to roll out Disney+ which has caused over $11 billion in losses for the company.
Earlier this year, Peltz began his push to be appointed to a seat on Disney’s board of directors, but the move was headed off by Iger and other board members when they committed to significant spending cuts. But as Disney has continued to struggle, Peltz has resumed his effort to join Disney’s board, gaining support from a key player, Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, the former head of Marvel Studios, who has pledged control of all his shares to Peltz’s investment firm.
Peltz has also received support from Jay Raulso, the company’s former CFO, whom Peltz is advocating to be appointed to Disney’s board together with himself. Raulso began working at Disney in 1986 and was eventually appointed CFO in 2002, a position that he held until 2015 when he resigned after he was passed over as a potential CEO. Instead, Iger handed the top role to Tom Staggs, who was head of theme parks at the time.
Iger and his allies have portrayed Peltz’s campaign as being fueled by grudges and ego, rather than a competing vision for the direction of the company. Both Raulso and Perlmutter are on the record as disapproving of Iger’s management decisions, particularly the big spending that even Iger has acknowledged as a mistake in hindsight. If Peltz manages to secure a board seat, his additional influence may create additional challenges for Iger, and accelerate his departure
