Elon Musk is once again garnering the spotlight with his recent statement, backing up an activist investor, Nelson Peltz as the latter actively tries to join the Disney Board. The company is facing an intense showdown over seats on Disney’s board of directors which will end at their annual shareholders meeting.
The media giant announced its 12 board nominees in January, including CEO Bob Iger. In a few days, Peltz’ Trian Partners, who owns a 1.5% stake in Disney is vying for two board seats – one for its co-founder, Peltz, and another for ex-Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo. As results are awaited, Musk takes his stance in Peltz’s favor.
Elon Musk Supports Nelson Peltz in the Proxy Battle for Disney
As the voting to select Disney’s board of directors closed last night, Tesla owner Elon Musk took to X to express his support for activist investor, Nelson Peltz. The business magnate believes that the latter “should definitely be on the Disney board!”
Musk, who has frequently criticized the studio and its CEO, Bob Iger, weighed on how Peltz’s addition as a board member would benefit the studio giant. He added,
“He would help reform the company, improve the quality of product, and generally serve in the best interests of shareholders, as he has done at many other companies.”
According to the Neuralink co-founder, Peltz’s vision would “significantly improve Disney’s share price.”
While the former clarified that he does not own any share in the company, he assured that he “would definitely buy” it if Peltz’s elected.
Check the tweet here.
While I don’t own any Disney shares today, I would definitely buy their shares if Nelson were elected to the board.
His track record is excellent.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2024
The fierce proxy battle has been ongoing for months with Trian Partners releasing a 133-page paper in March detailing its co-founder plans for the company, including a successful CEO succession. Iger has been serving as the CEO of the company since 2005.
After his exit in 2020, he returned to his post in 2022 to serve a two-year term, which has since been extended. Hence, his eventual succession took a crucial role in the proxy battle.
According to the votes analyzed by Deadline, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, former Disney boss Michael Eisner, George Lucas, Laurene Powell Jobs, and the Disney family are in favor of Disney’s board selections with studio giant’s second-largest shareholder, BlackRock, is backing Iger and co as reports suggested.
On the other hand, Peltz’s bid is getting support from proxy advisory service ISS, top pension fund CalPERS, and Egan-Jones, a smaller proxy advisor, with Musk being the new addition. However, his stance came after the voting ended, raising a question of how it would affect something that already happened.
Nelson Peltz Took a Shot at Marvel Movies like Black Panther
Amid trying to attain two seats on the Disney Board, Peltz has openly criticized the studio, by taking shots at the track record of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. Feige, who has been associated with the superhero franchise since its beginning has delivered great projects like Iron Man movies and Avengers.
However, he took a direct hit at movies like Black Panther and The Marvels, which were unable to bring great profit for the studio.
In an interview with The Financial Times, he shared,
“I’m not ready to say that, but I question his record. People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained. They don’t go to get a message.”
Peltz criticized Marvel’s strategy, adding,
“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?”
It is worth noting that Chadwick Boseman starrer project was a box-office success, surging past over $1.3 billion worldwide as per The Numbers. Whereas, The Marvels, despite becoming a box-office disappointment, was praised for cast performances.
