As announced at this afternoon’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Disney has officially won a proxy battle against Trian Fund Management and Blackwells. Disney officials said that preliminary vote totals show that Disney nominees have won by a substantial margin over Trian and Blackwells. The official announcement follows an earlier report that said that Disney had won the proxy battle. Both Trian and Blackwells were seeking seats on the Disney Board of Directors, but have failed.
Here is the announcement from Disney:
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) announced that, based on the tabulation of its proxy solicitor, it appears that Disney’s full slate of 12 directors has been elected by a substantial margin over the nominees of Trian and Blackwells at Disney’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders today. Final voting tallies are subject to certification by the Company’s independent inspector of elections, and preliminary and final results will be included in the Company’s reports to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the coming days.
Shareholders voted to elect all 12 nominees recommended by the Disney Board: Mary T. Barra, Safra A. Catz, Amy L. Chang, D. Jeremy Darroch, Carolyn N. Everson, Michael B.G. Froman, James P. Gorman, Robert A. Iger, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Calvin R. McDonald, Mark G. Parker, and Derica W. Rice.
“We are immensely grateful to our shareholders for their investment in Disney and their belief in its future, particularly during this period of great change in the broader entertainment industry. We are fortunate to have a highly qualified Board of Directors who possess a profound commitment to the enduring strength of this company and an enormous amount of experience and expertise, including succession planning. I’m thankful for Bob and his exceptional management team, as well as Disney’s employees and Cast Members around the world, for continuing to deliver for consumers and shareholders throughout this distracting proxy battle,” said Mark Parker, Chairman of the Board, The Walt Disney Company.
“I want to thank our shareholders for their trust and confidence in our Board and management. With the distracting proxy contest now behind us, we’re eager to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers,” said Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company.
During the meeting, Nelson Peltz was invited to speak on behalf of the Trian Group. Peltz said that Disney is an iconic company with some of the greatest brands, entertainment, theme parks, and experiences. Peltz said that Trian invested in Disney in late 2022, and that Disney has made changes since that time, but that Trian has continuing concerns about the current strategy and the current Board of Directors. Peltz said that Trian will continue to keep an eye on Disney’s performance.
Blackwells declined an invitation to speak during the Shareholder meeting.
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