Disney CEO Bob Iger Has Already Won Back Control of the Company

Disney CEO Bob Iger has been in the fight of his career for control over the future of the company, but according to the financial gurus of the world, he has already won.

Since Bob Iger returned to lead the Walt Disney Company in 2022, it has been a bumpy ride. Under the leadership of Iger (who had previously helped usher Disney into a new golden age of acquisitions and box office records), the Marvel machine finally started to falter, the centennial Wish (2023) film bombed at the box office, and the company faced an onslaught of legal challenges from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Even worse for the Disney CEO, he has faced multiple challenges to his control over the company from billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz and Trian Partners. While an attempt by Peltz to seize seats on the board of directors in early 2023 failed, he is now back and has the support of fellow billionaire Ike Perlmutter, former Marvel Entertainment chairman with a grudge against Disney.

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But in the wake of an earnings call that revealed a huge financial uptick for Disney investors (largely due to minimizing streaming losses and firing thousands of workers), it seems that Peltz and Perlmutter have likely lost their shot at ousting Bob Iger.

Using appropriate Star Wars terminology (per LA Times), TD Cowen media analyst Doug Creutz said of the earnings call that “[w]hatever chance of success these activist investors had is being buried by 100,000 tons of Disney carbonite,” TD Cowen media analyst Doug Creutz said in an interview after the earnings. “The market likes what it sees.”

Similarly, the MoffettNathanson equity research firm’s Michael Nathanson described Disney’s changing situation as “finally feel[ing] like the company has some financial control, in a way that Disney hasn’t felt in a number of years.”

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For its part, Trian Partners said via a spokesman (per TheWrap) that Disney’s improving financial status is “déjà vu all over again. We saw this movie last year, and we didn’t like the ending,” in what seemed to be a reference to the company’s announcement that it would be the exclusive streaming home of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) concert film.

But, more realistically, it seems likely that Nelson Peltz and Trian are very aware that the chance to get rid of Bob Iger and force the Walt Disney Company in a new direction is dwindling by the day. If you ask the financial analysts of the world, it seems that Bob Iger may have already won.

Do you think Bob Iger should continue to lead the Walt Disney Company? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!