Disney shareholders reject major push from activist investors

Disney shareholders on Wednesday voted down a bid by hedge fund Trian Partners to put two activist investors on the board to help boost the company’s stock price, according to ABC News.

Nelson Peltz, along with another member of the Trian Group, were denied seats on the 12-person board of nominees, according to ABC News. Peltz has been previously critical of incorporating politics into business, slamming Disney’s insistence on pushing “woke” messaging in movies such as having female and black-dominated casts in “The Marvels” and “Black Panther,” respectively.

“With the stock waning and Disney facing another proxy contest, Disney appears to again be trying to distract shareholders with what we see as a fanciful tale, claiming it has ‘turned the corner and entered a new era,’” Trian Partners said in a statement in February about the vote. “And with that, Disney announced a slew of new promises and ideas — most still in the process of being developed — hoping that shareholders would just believe all was well and improving.”

Disney has experienced a number of losses on projects with left-wing messaging, including movies like “Strange World” flopping on release that had the inclusion of an LGBT lead character. The company in November acknowledged that its push of left-wing messaging could harm shareholder profits due to a “misalignment” with consumer tastes.

Disney’s Boardroom Battle: Reports are out that Disney has secured enough votes to win. Shareholder Jim Lebenthal calls in with his strategy on the stock now. $DIS pic.twitter.com/4ViBDiyv0g

— CNBC Halftime Report (@HalftimeReport) April 3, 2024

Top leadership at Disney has overwhelmingly donated to Democrats, with executives having given a total of $2.8 million to Democrats as opposed to just over $900,000 to Republicans.

Research from proxy consulting firm Bowyer Research shows that companies, including Disney, that have embraced left-wing messaging in their products have performed worse in terms of brand value and stock performance compared to competitors over the last five years.

Disney continued to put out consistent profit gains despite struggling stock value, increasing revenues in its 2023 fiscal year by 7% and 5% for the quarter ending Sept. 30, according to the company’s most recent earnings report.

Disney and Trian Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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