Peltz v Iger! Billionaire investor scoops up cut-price Disney shares in bid to ... trends now
Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz - whose daughter Nicola married Brooklyn Beckham last year in a lavish ceremony - is battling to secure a seat on the board of Walt Disney Company, setting the stage for a spectacular showdown with new CEO Bob Iger.
Peltz, 80, owns via his company Trian 9.4 million Disney shares, valued at some $900 million - a roughly 0.5% stake.
Shares in struggling Disney have tumbled 39 percent in the past 52 weeks, under the tumultuous leadership of recently-removed CEO Bob Chapek, and are trading at an eight-year low - allowing Peltz to seize the moment.
His firm plans to file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, publicly nominating Peltz as a director candidate, with the intention of reining in what Peltz sees as excessive spending and mismanagement at Disney.
Disney, however, is determined to thwart him.
Nelson Peltz is pictured with his wife Claudia (left) and daughter Nicola (right), who is married to Brooklyn Beckham. The Florida-based businessman is now trying to secure a seat on Disney's board
Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, is pictured at the premier of the new Avatar film on December 12, with Sam Worthington. Peltz insists he does not intend to oust Iger, but the board is resisting Peltz's efforts to join the board
The outgoing chair of the board, Susan Arnold, on Wednesday called Peltz and offered him the olive branch of a role as a board observer, provided he agree to sign a 'standstill agreement', guaranteeing he would not increase his stake.
Peltz refused, the Wall Street Journal reported.
'Whether or not Peltz wins his battle, his move seems to have made Disney's management more aggressive in implementing improvements and fine tuning their strategy,' said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors.
He added: 'I'm grabbing a box of popcorn to watch this show!'
Peltz's firm insist that he does not want to oust Iger, who staged a remarkable comeback in November, having stepped down the year before and handed the reins to Bob Chapek.
Peltz, 80, is the founder partner and chief executive officer of Trian Fund Management. He is seen (right) during an interview on an episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein in June 2022
Disney's share price has plummeted over the course of the last year
Chapek struggled in the shadow of his predecessor - the well-respected Iger previously served as CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020, then Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board through 2021.
Chapek also failed to win over staff, and was criticized for his clumsy handling of the Florida 'Don't Say Gay' bill, which resulted in a very public spat with Florida's governor while Disney employees protested, and Disney ultimately lost its favorable
