Activist investor Nelson Peltz, a co-founder of hedge fund Trian Partners, has failed to present “a single strategic idea” to Walt Disney throughout two years of campaigning for a seat on the board of the entertainment giant, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The report cites a proxy filing by Disney this week as rejecting a bid by Trian to secure a board seat for both Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. According to the filing, Trian and Isaac Perlmutter, a large shareholder in the company and former Chair of Marvel Entertainment, have tried 24 times to win a seat on the board for Peltz. Trian and Peltz abandoned an earlier proxy contest in February last year.
The filing noted the “fraught history” between Perlmutter and Bob Iger, Disney’s Chair and CEO who fired Perlmutter in 2023 after years of tension between the two following Disney’s acquisition of Marvel in 2009.
Perlmutter became a large Disney shareholder after selling Marvel to the company and has pledged his shares, worth about $2.4bn, to Trian as it pursues its proxy battle.
