Charley Gallay/Getty Images Entertainment
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is prevailing over activist Trian in his proxy fight for seats on the council, with more than half the votes cast, according to a WSJ report on Monday.
Among the investors is BlackRock, Disney’s second largest shareholder with a 4.2% stake. supporting the entertainment giant, according to the WSJ report, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Money manager T. Rowe Price also said Monday that he plans to vote for Disney. He owns about 9.3 million Disney shares, or about 0.5% of the total.
“T. Rowe Price is confident that management has a workable plan to address the important issues facing the company,” the money manager said in a statement, according to a Bloomberg report.
The news comes as Disney (DIS) principals are set to vote on the proxy feud between Trian’s Nelson Peltz and Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger at Wednesday’s annual meeting. Disney (DIS) is not guaranteed to remain ahead in the voting as investors are still casting votes and can change them at the annual meeting, the WSJ said.
Trian’s campaign, officially launched in early 2024, has won support from key stakeholders, including the influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, which supported the candidacy of Nelson Peltz but not Jay Rasulo, former CFO of Disney. Proxy firm Glass Lewis backed Disney’s director slate.
Activist investor Blackwells Capital also nominated three directors to Disney’s board of directors.
Reuters reported Friday that the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) said it had voted to elect candidates to the Trian director position. CalPERS, the largest public pension plan in the United States, owned 6.65 million shares of Disney (DIS) stock at the end of 2023.