Activist investor Nelson Peltz, a Trump-supporting billionaire, reportedly wants to fix Disney by making it less “woke,” but Disney is fighting tooth and nail to prevent that from happening.
“People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained. They don’t go to get a message,” he said in a recent interview with the Financial Times.
“Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-black cast?” he added.
Great questions, right?
‘Ben & Jerry’s job is to sell ice cream, not to make political statements.’
The billionaire on his fight to fix Disney, keeping politics out of the boardroom, and why he is backing Trump again – over Lunch with the FT: https://t.co/TIynStIcvP
— Financial Times (@FT) March 23, 2024
How is Peltz relevant to Disney? Because the company he owns, Trian Fund Management, is trying to secure two board seats on Disney via a shareholder vote scheduled for April 3rd, according to Inside The Magic.
Peltz is backed in this effort by former Marvel Entertainment chair Ike Perlmutter and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo.
In the Financial Times interview, Peltz also slammed current Marvel chief Kevin Feige’s leadership. Disney bought Marvel in 2009.
Responding to Peltz’ remarks to the Financial Times, Disney expressed fury.
“This is exactly why Nelson Peltz shouldn’t be anywhere near a creatively driven company,” a spokesperson for the company told Reuters.
“Imagine the damage Peltz would do in Disney’s boardroom with these perspectives,” Disney added in a separate statement published to VoteDisney.com. “Peltz, including his silent partner like Perlmutter, would harm Disney and jeopardize our strategic transformation. Peltz brings no additive skills to the Board, doesn’t understand our business, and has no plan to create shareholder value.”
According to InsideTheMagic, Disney also “called Peltz a ‘bully’ and argued that he ignored the multi-billion-dollar box office earnings of The Marvels, Captain Marvel (2019), Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).”
And Disney alleged that the “81-year-old hedge fund manager” disregarded “Marvel’s unparalleled success,” and also “touted Fiege’s success as “the highest grossing producer of all-time.”
Disney also slammed Permutter for once dissing “female superheroes” and saying they don’t bring in money like white male stars do.
“Disney’s strategic transformation is working,” Disney said. “Our Board and management are delivering on our commitments to create superior, sustainable shareholder value. Do not let Nelson Peltz drive us off course with his outdated beliefs, uninformed ideas, and self-serving agenda.”
In reality, Disney’s stock has dropped from a high of nearly $2000 in early 2021 to only $120 or so as of late March, 2024. It recently hit a low of $82.65 in October.
Meanwhile, Disney sales are down as well, ergo why it “dramatically cut costs” last year.
Take what happened with Marvel Studios last year.
“It kicked off the year with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which grossed less at the box office than almost every other Marvel Studios movie with its takings coming to just $476.1 million,” according to Forbes.
“Half of this was retained by theaters with the remainder going to Disney. It was barely enough to cover the pre-production and filming of the movie which came to $193.2 million as we revealed,” Forbes reported in August.
And then Variety just reported last month that Disney+ lost 1.3 million subscribers after it hiked its prices to reduce costs.
Despite these setbacks, controversial Disney boss Bob Iger sent a letter to shareholders last month touting his alleged success.
“Just one year ago, we outlined an ambitious plan to return The Walt Disney Company to a period of sustained growth and shareholder value creation,” he wrote. “Our strong performance this past quarter demonstrates we have turned the corner and entered a new era for our Company, focused on fortifying ESPN for the future, building streaming into a profitable growth business, reinvigorating our film studios, and turbocharging growth in our parks and experiences.”
“As we build for the future, the steps we are taking today lend themselves to solidifying Disney’s place as the preeminent creator of global content. Looking at the renewed strength of all of our businesses this quarter – from Sports, to Entertainment, to Experiences – we believe the stage is now set for significant growth and success, including ample opportunity to increase shareholder returns as our earnings and free cash flow continue to grow,” he added.
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Author: Vivek Saxena
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