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Credit: Inside the MagicElon Musk has officially joined the fight against Disney.
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Nelson Peltz has been attacking The Walt Disney Company for months in anticipation of today’s annual shareholder’s meeting. Peltz, a billionaire businessman, is a founding member of Trian Partners, an investment management fund. Peltz spearheaded the Restore the Magic campaign, a movement dedicated to criticizing Bob Iger’s leadership and The Walt Disney Company in general. Peltz, along with other executives, such as former Disney employee Jay Rasulo, claims that Iger is not fit to run the Walt Disney Company and is leading Disney down the wrong path. Peltz and Rasuo claim that Disney is creatively bankrupt and needs to shift its focus from entertainment and streaming to theme parks. Peltz’s goal is to acquire board seats on Disney, giving him slight amounts of power and control.
In 2023, The Walt Disney Company announced that it was dedicating $60 billion to its theme parks over the next decade. Disney has been struggling to turn a profit with its in-house streaming platform Disney+, but CEO Bob Iger is dedicated to improving the Disney+ experience, both for the company and consumers. However, Iger has lost support from major figures like Peltz and Rasuko, as well as other notorious businessmen like Jim Cramer from CNBC’s Mad Money.
Now, Iger is losing support again, but this time, it’s not that surprising.
Elon Joins Fight Against Disney
Just as the fight between Disney and Nelson Peltz closes, world-renowned entrepreneur Elon Musk is throwing his hat into the ring, officially endorsing Peltz in the proxy fight against the company. Tesla owner Elon Musk shared a tweet this morning announcing his full support of Peltz.
Nelson Peltz should definitely be on the Disney board! 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. This would significantly improve Disney’s share price.
Nelson Peltz should definitely be on the Disney board!
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.
This would significantly improve Disney’s share price. https://t.co/JPa6dP7kbQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2024
Related: Disney Quietly Releases New “Pirates of the Caribbean” Series
Elon states that Peltz should “definitely” be on the Disney board, claiming that he would help “reform” the company and “improve” the quality of its products. Elon goes on to state that he does not own any shares of The Walt Disney Company but thinks it would be in the company’s best interest for Peltz to acquire a board seat. Elon says that Pelz’s track record is excellent and that he would be excited to see how he handles The Walt Disney Company. This is not surprising, considering Elon’s past comments about The Walt Disney Company and its leadership. Elon has been a staunch critic of Disney over the last several months, claiming the company is “woke” and too politically motivated. At one point, Elon even told Bob Iger to “go f***” himself during an interview.
All of this comes just as Disney holds its annual shareholders meeting, which will see shareholders vote to have Peltz join the company’s board. This also comes as speculation stirs regarding who will be Bob Iger’s successor. Iger returned to The Walt Disney Company in late 2022 after former CEO Bob Chapek was terminated from the position. This news came entirely out of left field, with Chapek only serving as CEO for two short years.
Iger served as CEO of The Walt Disney Company for decades, first taking on the role in 2005. Iger will continue to act as Disney’s CEO until 2026, which is when his contract officially ends.
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