Nelson Peltz is so convinced he deserves a seat on the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company that he has moved forward with nominating himself for a chair, leaving it up to Disney shareholders to decide if he and a second candidate — a former Disney CFO — deserve to be elected.
It sets the stage for a bitter battle between Peltz, ex-financial officer Jay Rasulo, and current CEO Bob Iger.
Peltz is the man behind Trian Fund Management, and Disney on Thursday confirmed that it has provided the company with a notice of its intent to nominate two individuals for election to the company’s board at its forthcoming annual shareholders meeting.
Disney fell short in disclosing that the individuals were Peltz and Rasulo, however. In a statement, the ABC Owned Stations and ESPN parent said, “Disney has an experienced, diverse, and highly qualified board that is focused on the long-term performance of the company, strategic growth initiatives including the ongoing transformation of its businesses, the succession planning process, and increasing shareholder value. The Governance and Nominating Committee, which evaluates director nominations, will review the proposed Trian nominees and provide a recommendation to the board as part of its governance process.”
That said, Disney has been vocal in its opposition to Peltz, and his previous request to be sat on the board was denied.
But, this time around Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter is aligning with Peltz to get him sat on the board. He’s the former head of Marvel Entertainment, a key revenue generator for Disney.
Disney stock, which trades on the NYSE, ended Thursday’s trading at $93.94; it has a 1-year target price of $96.51 after trading near $150 per share as 2022 began — a fact that is crux to Peltz’s desire for a board seat.
