Walt Disney Co. has successfully gathered sufficient votes from shareholders to overcome an opposition led by Trian Fund Management's Nelson Peltz against its board of directors.
The vote count announced at today's shareholder meeting put Disney's board members ahead "by a substantial margin" of the challenge posed by Peltz and Jay Rasulo, a former CFO of Disney. Additionally, Blackwells Capital's attempt to nominate three candidates for Disney's board did not succeed.
Shareholders voted to elect all 12 nominees recommended by the Disney Board: Mary T. Barra, Safra A. Catz, Amy L. Chang, D. Jeremy Darroch, Carolyn N. Everson, Michael B.G. Froman, James P. Gorman, Robert A. Iger, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Calvin R. McDonald, Mark G. Parker, and Derica W. Rice.
“We are immensely grateful to our shareholders for their investment in Disney and their belief in its future, particularly during this period of great change in the broader entertainment industry. We are fortunate to have a highly qualified Board of Directors who possess a profound commitment to the enduring strength of this company and an enormous amount of experience and expertise, including succession planning. I’m thankful for Bob and his exceptional management team, as well as Disney’s employees and Cast Members around the world, for continuing to deliver for consumers and shareholders throughout this distracting proxy battle,” said Mark Parker, Chairman of the Board, The Walt Disney Company.
“I want to thank our shareholders for their trust and confidence in our Board and management. With the distracting proxy contest now behind us, we’re eager to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers,” said Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company.
Disney has made several strategic moves in recent months to regain investor confidence. These include a major investment in Epic Games, the creator of "Fortnite," plans to introduce an ESPN streaming service by 2025, and the addition of two new board members.
Trian and Blackwells have criticized Disney for what they perceive as failures in succession planning, a loss of creative momentum, and inadequacies in leveraging new technologies. Bob Iger, who returned from retirement in 2022 to lead Disney again, has been focusing on revitalizing the company's iconic franchises, making the streaming service profitable, and exploring partnerships for ESPN's digital expansion.
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