A majority of shareholder votes have been cast ahead of the Mouse House’s April 3 annual meeting, giving Disney and CEO Bob Iger a lead over all 12 director nominees for re-election. , reported that activist investor Nelson Peltz will follow suit. wall street journal.
The magazine, citing unnamed sources, said that two of Disney’s institutional investors, BlackRock (which owns approximately 4.2% of the outstanding stock) and T. Rowe Price (0.5%), He said he supports candidates for the company’s board of directors, including Mr. Iger.
The WSJ article does not say how disparate the 12 members of Disney’s board of directors are reportedly against Mr. Peltz. The magazine reported that as of late last week, about 20% of the stock had been voted, with Mr. Peltz leading the race to replace current Disney director Maria Elena Lagomasino (while Mr. Tryon’s other (The candidate, former Disney CFO Jay Laslo, was behind). .
A spokesperson for T. Rowe Price said more than 99% of the company’s stock is owned by Disney’s recommended candidates, including two incumbent directors (Mr. Lagomasino and Mr. Michael Froman) who are vying for board seats. He acknowledged that he had voted for all of them. “We are reassured that management has a viable plan to address the important issues facing the company,” a T. Rowe Price representative said in a statement.
Representatives for Disney and Trian did not respond to requests for comment on the report. A BlackRock spokesperson declined to comment.
Disney’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 3 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Eligible stockholders may vote online, by mail, or by telephone prior to the meeting. Shareholders can vote at the general meeting, but Disney says they are “strongly” encouraged to vote by 11:59 p.m. ET on April 2. The number of votes will be announced at the general meeting on April 3rd.
The final outcome of the proxy war is still up in the air. Overall, Disney’s individual shareholders own more than one-third of the company’s outstanding shares, making them a key factor in determining board elections.
SEE ALSO: Disney board showdown: What’s at stake in the contentious 2024 shareholder meeting?
Mr. Peltz’s Trian controls approximately 32 million shares of Disney stock (1.8% of total shares outstanding), 79% of which is owned by former Marvel Entertainment president Ike Perlmutter (who Disney says is owned by Iger). The company is said to be owned by a man who has “long-standing personal agendas”.
Mr. Peltz, an activist investor who has won seats on the boards of companies such as H.J. Heinz and Procter & Gamble, argued that Disney stock has underperformed its peers and the broader market in recent years. Mr. Peltz’s proxy campaign to bring new thinking to Disney’s board of directors has won the support of influential advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which has called Disney’s “failed” CEO Citing in part the succession plan, it recommended that shareholders elect Mr. Peltz to Disney’s board of directors (excluding Mr. Laszlo).
Disney told shareholders that Mr. Peltz “has no media experience and has not presented any strategic ideas to Disney,” adding that Peltz’s “vanity” and the conflict between Mr. Perlmutter and Mr. Iger were fueled by Mr. Peltz’s “vanity.” He called Tryon’s proxy fight “disruptive and destructive.”
Supporters of Disney’s board nominations and Mr. Iger’s leadership include proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis. Film director George Lucas (Disney’s largest individual shareholder) and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Laurene Powell Jobs, Founder and President of Emerson Collective. Grandchildren of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney (including film director Abigail Disney).
Peltz’s Trian said last week that it “supports Mr. Iger as a director candidate and CEO,” adding that the Disney board’s addition of Bob Chapek to the board “is the most important successor to the CEO.” The purpose was to sway the board, he said. The role appears to be carried out without proper vetting or oversight. ” However, Tryon withheld a vote for Mr. Iger’s re-election to the Disney board.
