Credit: Inside the MagicDisney CEO Bob Iger has won the support of Glass Lewis, a powerful corporate proxy advisor, all but making his victory over Nelson Peltz and Trian Fund Management a certainty,
For the last several months, Bob Iger has often been on the defensive when it comes to the looming shareholder vote over the Walt Disney Company board of directors. Although Iger is a legendary figure in the entertainment industry and is currently serving his second stint as the chief executive officer of Disney, the company is not what it once was, and he has been getting the lion’s share of the blame.
Related: Disney Board of Directors Has Its Replacements for CEO Bob Iger
While the Disney buck may stop at Bob Iger’s desk, it is also not entirely fair to put the responsibility for all of the company’s stumbles on his shoulder. After a solid decade-and-a-half of leading Disney to media dominance with controversial moves like the multi-billion dollar acquisitions of Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, the CEO has struggled to find a strategy to pull out of a global box office slump, a wildly changing and aggressive political climate, and seemingly endless lawsuits.
But regardless of whether or not Bob Iger is to blame for every drop in Disney stock value, Trian Partners co-founder and activist investor billionaire Nelson Peltz has decided to persuade shareholders that the only way to keep making huge amounts of money is to vote him and former CFO Jay Rasulo onto the board. To hear Peltz tell it, he and he only (plus Rasulo) can save Disney.
However, Glass Lewis, one of the country’s most influential proxy advisors, sees things differently.
In a new press release, the Walt Disney Company is touting its new endorsement by Glass Lewis, stating that “We are pleased that Glass Lewis recognizes the strength of our highly qualified nominees and supports our plans to return this iconic company to a period of sustained growth and shareholder value creation.”
Disney cites an extensive report from Glass Lewis, which (broadly speaking) confirms that the return of Bob Iger as CEO is creating an observable financial uptick for the company. The report states:
- “…the Company is undertaking what we consider to be a credible effort to shift key operational priorities under the leadership of one of the most well-respected CEOs in the industry.”
- “While it remains too early to say with certainty that each of those programs will prove successful, we believe it is similarly too early to suggest there exists adequate cause for investors to support alternate solicitations which may prove significantly less accretive to Disney’s trajectory, by comparison.”
- “…we consider the subsequent 15 months [since Iger’s return] have provided management and an incrementally reconstituted board with adequate opportunity to launch a more credible succession program and develop, communicate and execute on several key initiatives which appear to reasonably target acknowledged operational and financial weaknesses at Disney.”
Related: Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon Endorses Bob Iger in Disney Proxy Battle
As though that was not already bad news for Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo, the Glass Lewis report takes direct aim at them. It goes on to assert that “[W]e struggle to see many of Trian’s intentions as representing a likely net gain for investors…Notwithstanding faults in Disney’s prior succession initiative, Trian’s intent to launch a new process is not clearly superior to, and may be heavily duplicative of, Disney’s ongoing effort…”
Basically, one of the most respected organizations in the world regarding corporate proxy fights has come down hard on the side of Disney and explicitly dunked on Trian. Things are not looking great for Nelson Peltz’s chances in April.
Inside the Magic reached out to Trian Partners for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
Do you think Bob Iger and the current board of directors will win the proxy fight? Let’s hear it in the comment below!