Walt Disney Company calls for shareholder support in upcoming board election

The Walt Disney Company has urged its shareholders to vote for its 12 board nominees at the upcoming Annual Meeting on April 3, 2024, and to ignore the nominees from the Trian Group and Blackwells.

In a letter to shareholders sent today, Disney emphasized its strategy, focusing on brand assets, cost reduction, and dividend reinstatement while enhancing streaming services, film studios, ESPN, and Disney's Experiences business.

Referring to the non-Disney nominees, the company said, "Your Board does not endorse either of the Trian Group's nominees (Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo) or any of Blackwells' nominees (Craig Hatkoff, Jessica Schell and Leah Solivan). We believe that the election of any of these individuals would impede leadership's ongoing execution of Disney's strategic realignment and the Board's efforts to create value for shareholders."

The letter then goes on to say that Mr. Peltz brings no media experience and has presented no strategic ideas for Disney, while Mr. Rasulo's perspective is stale, given he left Disney in 2015 and has not held any executive positions in the industry since.

The Trian Group, which owns more than $3 billion of shares of The Walt Disney Company, is urging Disney shareholders to withhold votes for board members, Mr. Froman and Ms. Lagomasino. They argue that Froman's experience outside of Disney, mainly in government and finance, is largely irrelevant to the company's business, and he possesses only one skill central to Disney's strategy. Similarly, they contend that Lagomasino's background in wealth management is unrelated to Disney's core business. Trian also criticizes Lagomasino for misaligned compensation practices, including a significant package for Mr. Iger and a 2023 compensation program they believe does not align with Disney's performance. Furthermore, both nominees are part of the Governance and Nominating Committee, which Trian accuses of poor corporate governance and succession issues.

You can read the full letter to Disney shareholders here.