A new report details that The Walt Disney Company has taken the lead over Trian Fund Management’s Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo in the proxy battle for seats on the company’s Board of Directors.
Mickey walks down Main Street USA at Disneyland. (Credit: Mortimer Productions)
The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Thomas and Robbie Whelan report that Disney has taken the lead “with more than half of all shares voted, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Specifically, the outlet reports that BlackRock has thrown their support behind The Walt Disney Company. BlackRock reportedly controls a little more than 4% of The Walt Disney Company.
Not only is BlackRock supporting Disney, but T. Rowe Price is reportedly set to throw its support behind Disney as well. The money manager controls about .5% of the company.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: (L-R) The Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger and Chris Pratt attend the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 World Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 27, 2023. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney)
READ: Wall Street Journal Reports Nelson Peltz May Lead in Votes for Disney Board Seat
This latest report from The Wall Street Journal follows in the wake of a previous report made at the end of March by Sarah Krouse, Robbie Whelan, and Lauren Thomas that Nelson Peltz had taken the lead with “just over 22% of shares” cast.
They reported, “Among those who have already cast their votes, Peltz leads Disney director Maria Elena Lagomasino, while Rasulo, the other name on the Trian slate, has so far failed to gain much of a foothold with shareholders, these people said.”
A Disney spokesman responded to this report telling the outlet that leaking the vote count was “a highly inappropriate attempt to sway votes.”
Nelson Peltz via David Rubenstein YouTube
Trian Fund Management and its candidates Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo are angling to get at least two board seats on the Walt Disney Company’s Board of Directors after declaring its belief that the current board and its “subpar performance has destroyed value.”
Specifically, the company has claimed “the root cause of Disney’s underperformance in our view, is a Board that is too closely connected to a longtenured CEO and too disconnected from shareholders’ interests. The Board, we believe, lacks objectivity as well as focus, alignment, and accountability.”
Nelson Peltz via David Rubenstein YouTube
READ: Disney Responds To Nelson Peltz Slamming Marvel For Going Woke
In contrast, The Walt Disney Company and its CEO Bob Iger has described Peltz and his proxy fight as a “distraction” and could harm the company’s “momentum from the past year.”
Iger said during a Morgan Stanley conference at the beginning of March, “This campaign is, in a way, designed to distract us, to take our eye off all those balls.”
Bob Iger | 2019 Disney Legends Awards Ceremony | D23 EXPO 2019. Photo Credit: nagi usano from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
What do you make of Disney reportedly taking the lead in the proxy battle against Trian Fund Management and Nelson Peltz?
