Walt Disney Co. shareholders have given a vote of confidence to its CEO, Bob Iger, by rejecting the candidacy of dissident investor Nelson Peltz to take a seat on the entertainment giant's board of directors.
Shareholders elected all options disney for the board, rejecting Peltz's candidacy, executives announced Wednesday at the company's annual meeting. Investors also rejected Peltz's ally, former Disney finance chief Jay Rasulo, and a listing from Blackwells Capital LLC, another dissident group.
The result is a clear victory for Iger, 73, who has fought to keep Peltz off the board since he returned as CEO in November 2022.. In recent months, Iger has tried to respond to investor concerns by resolving a political dispute with Florida, bringing in new directors to oversee the succession and promising an early profit from the company's streaming business.
Trian Fund Management LP, owned by Peltz, owns a stake in Disney worth more than $3.5 billion and has been pushing to address delays in shareholder returns and what it sees as inadequate corporate governance.
In the run-up to the annual meeting, Iger and the board won the support of Glass Lewis & Co, proxy advisor, and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and major shareholders such as George Lucas, Laurene Powell Jobs and members of the Disney family.
Peltz won support from proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services and Egan-Jones, and secured endorsements from directors and former directors of Procter & Gamble Co, Mondelez International Inc. and Janus Henderson Group Pl.c, where he previously held management positions.
Iger returned to run Disney more than a year ago to replace his successor, Bob Chapek. Under Chapek, Disney suffered huge losses in streaming. He also got into a fight with Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, over state legislation restricting gender discussion in public schools.
In his second term, Iger has cut annual costs by $7.5 billion, eliminated 8,000 jobs and begun to address the sagging performance of the company's film business.. He has outlined plans to make sports programming from Disney's flagship ESPN available to viewers online and has unveiled a sports streaming company with competitors.
The company has also appointed a group of board members to oversee the search for a successor to Iger, whose contract extends until 2026.
Additionally, Disney has reinstated its dividend, announced plans to invest $60 billion in its parks and tourist complexes in the next 10 years and has delved deeper into the video game business through a $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games, the creator of the popular Fortnite title.
Disney shares They were up 36% this year through Tuesday's close.
