Disney CEO Bob Iger in Danger as Crucial Boardroom Ally Turns Against Him

Disney CEO Bob Iger has been accumulating support for the upcoming proxy battle to determine the future of the Mouse House, but a major potential boardroom ally has just turned its back on him.

In less than a week, shareholders in the Walt Disney Company will vote on their choices for their board of directors, the body that essentially decides who is CEO and thus implicitly controls the direction of the iconic media corporation. At the moment, there are three choices: Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo from Trian Partners, Jessica Schell, Craig Hatkoff, and Leah Solivan from Blackwells Capital, or Bob Iger and the existing Disney board.

Related: Disney Stock Explodes as CEO Bob Iger Proxy Battle Nears

All three parties have been aggressively telling shareholders that only they are the right choice for the board and basically, all their Disney stock will become worthless, and the entire company will explode if anyone else takes charge. To put it lightly, the run-up to the proxy battle has been heated, and a lot of harsh words have been thrown around by very rich business people.

Bob Iger, representing the existing Walt Disney Company board of directors, has amassed quite a few notable names to support him, including Lucasfilm founder (and the single largest owner of Disney stock) George Lucas, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and powerful proxy consultant firm Glass Lewis. Aside from the implicit advantage of being the incumbent and having a whole lot of name recognition for his years as two-term CEO, Iger has been looking pretty good.

However, things have been rapidly going south for Bob Iger. Major proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) threw its considerable weight behind billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, recommending that he “could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around” and that his “considerable experience on other boards and fiduciary duties owed to a large shareholding group, appears best positioned to bring a shareholder perspective to the board.”

Even worse for Bob Iger, ISS directly attacked him in its report, saying that “given the major missteps and severe consequences of the failed 2020 succession, particularly for a company that already had a history of succession drama, it may be difficult for others to simply trust that the board, albeit refreshed, will get it right this time.”

Related: Disney Shareholders Clean up Profits as Billionaire Proxy Vote Nears

Now, another huge advisory board has turned on Bob Iger and recommended shareholders vote for Nelson Peltz. Proxy advisor Egan-Jones concluded in a report (per Global Newswire) that it “see[s] very little downside and a lot of upsides in putting the Trian Nominees on the Board.” It goes on to state more reasons why Bob Iger needs to be jettisoned, including:

• “The apparent lack of a … long-term succession plan.”
• “A Board that appears cutoff and unwilling to engage with investors and the broader market.”
• “A business model, we believe to be built for the last decade, but not forward looking and flexible enough to ensure success in the next.”
• “A desire to protect the status quo for as long as possible and at all costs.”
• “Mediocre financial performance and the resultant lower valuation.”

While Bob Iger has some heavy hitters behind him, it is a pretty bad sign that two major proxy advisors have come out to both support Nelson Peltz, his main opposition, and to say that he’s been doing a bad job, essentially. We’ll see what the shareholders decide in a few days, but Iger had better hope that he doesn’t have any more enemies popping up in the meantime.

Do you think Bob Iger will be ousted from Disney? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below!