Disney CEO Bob Iger described the proxy battle waged by two activist investors as a campaign “designed to somehow distract us, take our eyes off everything that is necessary to do what we need to do to deliver shareholder returns.”
Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners is fielding two director candidates — himself and former Disney executive Jay Rasulo — and has aggressively courted Disney shareholders. Investment firm Blackwells Capital nominated three candidates. Shareholders will elect the board of directors at Disney’s annual meeting on April 3.
Iger, speaking at a Morgan Stanley investor conference, said: “I work hard not to let this distract me. Because when I get distracted, everyone who works with me gets distracted, and that’s not a good thing.”
He’s been back at Disney for 15 months now and said things have been tough, but he’s happy with where the company is — making progress on cost savings, pivoting to streaming profitability, in the midst of a studio turnaround, and investing heavily in parks and rides.
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