Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
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Activist investor Ancora on Tuesday called on Disney to add Nelson Peltz to its board of directors, days after Peltz and his company Trian began a proxy battle with the entertainment giant.
“We encourage the board to pursue a workable compromise with Trian Fund Management, LP and Nelson Peltz to avoid a campaign following a year of turmoil and disappointing performance,” Ancora said in a statement. I hope everyone will cooperate with us.” letter. “Mr. Peltz (or a qualified nominee) will make a great addition to Disney’s board of directors.”
Ancora also suggested that many of Disney’s difficulties in recent years, including streaming losses and some box office failures, could be traced to the company’s board of directors.
“After a long period of lethargic governance, ineffective succession planning, polarizing behavior, and continued value destruction, Disney’s board clearly warrants some shareholder-driven change,” Ancora said Tuesday. “It will be transformed,” he said. “Although it has been argued that the challenges were primarily due to Bob Chapek’s tenure, the board was in control before, during and after that.”
disney I fired back at Tryon last week., suggests the move was prompted by a personal grudge against Disney CEO Bob Iger held by Peltz ally and former Marvel boss Ike Perlmutter. Mr. Tryon controls about $3 billion in Disney stock, but the vast majority is owned by Mr. Perlmutter, who Disney fired earlier this year. Mr. Tryon is seeking at least two seats on Disney’s board of directors, which are held by directors believed to be loyal to Mr. Iger.
Ancora’s announcement Tuesday did not disclose the amount of its investment in Disney. As of September, Ancora owned more than 60,000 shares of Disney stock, according to FactSet. That equates to about $6 million in stock as of Tuesday.
Disney’s market capitalization was about $160 billion as of Tuesday, and its stock price was down about 2%. The stock has risen more than 4% since the beginning of the year, underperforming the broader S&P 500 index.
Disney did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
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