The long-running proxy battle between The Walt Disney Company DIS and billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz came to an end, netting Peltz’s hedge fund a $300 million profit, Triani Partners.
What happened: The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Trian Partners has raised about $300 million from its 16-month proxy war with Disney. This figure is based on information from anonymous sources. According to the report, most of this wealth is in paper form.
In February 2024, Peltz made a paper profit of approximately $154 million after purchasing 9.4 million shares of Disney stock. This coincided with a surge in Disney shares following the CEO’s announcement of a restructuring Bob Iger, which is expected to save the company about $5.5 billion by cutting 7,000 jobs. Trian subsequently withdrew from his initial proxy battle against Disney.
Despite not winning the two council seats he was aiming for, Peltz appears to view the outcome positively. “Since we reengaged with the company last October, Disney shares are up about 50% and are the best performer in the Dow to date,” he said.
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However, James Park, a corporate law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Business Insider that Peltz would have preferred to win board seats, considering the time and effort invested in his activism. President of IAC and billionaire Barry Diller he called the proxy war a “big waste of time” and questioned the value of Peltz’s activist campaign.
Because matter: According to an April 4 report, Peltz cleared up misconceptions about his financial gain from the proxy battle with Disney in a CNBC interview with Jim Cramer. The same day, CEO of Disney Bob Iger stated that Peltz brought no new ideas to Disney following the proxy fight.
Interestingly, the day before, on April 3, 2024, Elon Musk expressed his belief that Peltz should serve on Disney’s board of directors. Musk’s endorsement of Peltz may have influenced Disney’s stock price.
Price Action: As of April 4, 2024, Disney shares closed at 116.60, down 0.42% from the previous close of 118.98.
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Nelson Peltz and Disney logo via Shutterstock
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