Activist Investor Nelson Peltz Will Take His Case to Get on Disney Board Directly to Investors
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor Nelson Peltz is renewing his fight to shake up Disney‘s board. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management investment firm, which owns about $3 billion in Disney stock, issued a statement Thursday that after the Mouse House’s board rejected Trian’s request for board seats, the hedge fund will “take our case for change directly to shareholders.” Trian is seeking two seats on Disney’s board, CNBC reported.
The firm oversees more than $2 billion worth of Disney shares held by former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, who has been vocal critic of Disney CEO Bob Iger and was dismissed from the company in March.
The announced intention by Trian to launch a proxy fight to get its directors on the board comes a day after Disney named Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky chief Jeremy Darroch as new directors.
In a statement Trian said, “This morning, following conversations with Disney’s CEO, Disney extended an offer to Trian to meet with the board but informed Trian that the board is turning down Trian’s recent request for Board representation, including Nelson Peltz.” Trian’s statement continued, “Since we gave Disney the opportunity to prove it could ‘right the ship’ last February, up to our reengagement weeks ago, shareholders lost ~$70 billion of value.
Read more on variety.com