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Credit: Inside The MagicBlackwells Capitol, an activist investor seeking seats on the Disney Board of Directors, has suggested that the Walt Disney Company could become three separate entities thanks to the company currently being “too complex for any one successor to Mr. Iger.”
Inside the Blackwells Capitol Drama With the Walt Disney Company
A few weeks ago, Blackwells Capitol released its preliminary proxy statement indicating that they seek out Board of Director seats to enhance Disney’s capabilities by injecting their expertise in what they believe the big media and theme park giant lacks.
Now, sometime later, Blackwells Capitol has officially released a statement indicating what they desire out of getting voted into several Disney Board of Director seats that are up for grabs in April.
In a significant development marked by an SEC filing, Blackwells Capital officially initiated a proxy battle with Disney, advocating for appointing three nominees to the company’s esteemed Board of Directors. This move is underscored by a critical stance towards Nelson Peltz‘s Trian Fund Management. Blackwells Capital’s nominees include distinguished industry figures: former Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal executive Jessica Schell, Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff, and TaskRabbit founder Leah Solivan.
Disney to Become Three Separate Companies?
The most surprising statement from the official proxy battle filing against Disney was the portion where Blackwells Capitol seeks to potentially split Disney into three separate companies, indicating that right now, the company is too vast and “complex” for just one person, making a jab at current Disney CEO Bob Iger. Here’s the official statement from the document:
Disney may simply be too complex for any one successor to Mr. Iger to manage holistically, and Blackwells believes that it is the responsibility of the board to oversee these types of analyses in the ordinary course.
– Blackwells Capital letter to shareholders
Blackwells, holding approximately $15 million worth of Disney stock, has also engaged with Peltz’s and Trian’s pursuit for board seats. Notably, Trian wields control over about $3 billion worth of shares, which includes those held by former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter. In response, Trian has nominated Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo for positions on the board.
Addressing this dynamic, Jason Aintabi, Blackwells’ representative, underscored Peltz’s persistent efforts to secure a seat on Disney’s Board, having made the request no less than 24 times in the past year and a half. Aintabi highlights that despite these repeated requests, Peltz has failed to offer strategic proposals that would benefit shareholders directly. In Aintabi’s words, “Begging for board seats is not a strategy that will make any money for shareholders.”
Meanwhile, just today, Disney officially launched a nationwide initiative begging its shareholders to make the right decision in April and vote out Peltz, Trian, Blackwells, and others from being nominated to the Board of Directors. In a bizarre move, Disney used an old video of one of its cartoons to tell people how to vote.
The initiative aims to educate Disney shareholders on how to vote in Disney’s favor – voting for their nominees will allow and assist Disney in remaining who they are today.
Will the tactic work? Or will there be some further drama added to the ongoing political and legal battle going on right now involving Disney and its theme parks? April is only 55 days away.