The Walt Disney Co. is well known for its motion picture plots. The good guys fight the bad guys and come to a resolution. But this time, Disney’s real-life nemesis is its own activist investors, and the resolution is a bit more complicated.
Nine of Walt and Roy Disney’s grandchildren are coming together to stave off activist investor Nelson Peltz’s proxy fight to gain two additional board seats, the New York Times reports.
The Disney board currently has 12 seats. Peltz is advocating for one seat, with the other being for Disney’s former chief financial officer James. A Rasulo. Rasulo parted ways with the company in 2015.
Moreover, Peltz isn’t the only activist investor looking to gain board seats. Financial services firm Blackwells Capital is vying for three.
Roy P. Disney, one of the Disney heirs joining the fight, told The Times that “these activists must be defeated,” and said their intentions are misplaced.
“They are not interested in preserving the Disney magic, but stripping it to the bone to make a quick profit for themselves,” he said.
A spokesperson for Peltz’s investment firm Train Partners said that, “We love Disney and recognize building on its rich history of delighting loyal fans is essential to its future success.”
In a Restore The Magic video, Peltz emphasized shareholders’ desire for the stock to go up.
“It’s time for the board to understand that their big board fees, and management with a huge compensation owe something to us,” Peltz said.
In a letter to shareholders that The Times reviewed, Roy Disney’s grandson, along with his siblings Abigail, Susan Disney Lord, and Tim Disney, described Peltz and other activist investors as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
Referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger, they wrote in the letter that “it is imperative that the strategy Bob Iger, his management team and the board of directors have implemented is not disrupted.”