The Walt Disney Company is no stranger to criticism. Disney is in the middle of two major lawsuits with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, all while facing opposition from activist investor Nelson Peltz and his ally, former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. Disney’s annual shareholders meeting will take place on April 3rd, 2024, and ahead of the meeting, both Disney and Peltz have been campaigning for control of the Board of Directors.

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On April 3rd, Disney shareholders will have the opportunity to vote for the new members of Disney’s Board of Directors. Nelson Peltz hopes to make significant changes to Disney’s current Board, but Disney has made it clear they do not endorse Peltz’s ideas. Disney has taken a hard stance against Peltz and his allies and even went so far as to publish an eight-point page debunking Peltz’s claims. Let’s see what Disney has to say.

The Walt Disney Company created a “Fact vs Fiction” page on its website (filed under “Our Growth Strategy”). The page starts with a statement from Disney: “The truth matters. Shareholders rightfully expect directors to base their statements on facts. The activists and their nominees have not lived up to this expectation.”

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From there, Disney goes on to highlight eight false claims and opposing statements to debunk each false claim. Point one discredits the idea that Nelson Peltz has the media expertise necessary to deserve a spot on Disney’s Board of Directors. Disney uses Peltz’s own quote on CNBC to prove Peltz does not have media experience.

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Disney also discredits Jay Rasulo’s media experience, noting that “his perspective on the media industry is stale.”

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Point three comes after Peltz’s shares. Disney states, “Shareholders should ask Trian, if it speaks for them, why it continues to sell down its stake, including selling over 500,000 shares between September 30, 2023, and December 31, 2023.”

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Disney goes on to cite a Bloomberg headline to nullify Peltz’s claim that he has been caught in a
”Disney mousetrap.” According to Disney, Peltz was able to profit from Disney shares in 2023.

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The campaign continues by highlighting three more false claims, including:

• Mr. Peltz claims the Boards on which he has sat have, on average, outperformed the S&P by 900bps annually.
• Trian claims Disney has refused to engage with Mr. Peltz.
• Trian claims Disney’s Board is closed to new ideas and refuses to heed input from shareholders.

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Each point is followed by a statement to disprove Peltz’s narrative. At one point, Disney states, “[Peltz] and Trian’s other nominee Mr. Rasulo offer no additive relevant experience to our independent, highly qualified Board.”

©New York Times Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners

Disney’s campaign ends with the allegedly false claim that “Disney+ is an emerging streaming business that has been poorly managed.” Here, Disney attempts to disprove this idea with a graph indicating that Disney+’s losses have decreased between 2023 and 2024. Note that the date of Disney’s next earnings call has yet to be announced.

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Disney urges shareholders to vote at the upcoming shareholders meeting, stating, “Your vote matters.” Peltz and his allies have not directly responded to Disney’s campaign, but we will keep our eyes out for additional updates.  Stay tuned for more.

Why April 3rd Is a BIG DAY for the Walt Disney Company

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