Apr 3 (Reuters) – Walt Disney shareholders have backed Chief Executive Bob Iger and other company directors, ending a multimillion-dollar mud-slinging battle launched by activist investors Trian Fund Management and Blackwells Capital.
The vote to re-elect all 12 of Disney’s current board members, announced at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, defeated the campaign by the investors who argued the entertainment conglomerate had underperformed in the streaming-television era.
Here are the key events in the boardroom saga:
Date Event
Oct. 7, Activist investor Daniel Loeb urges Disney to
2020 forgo paying a dividend and use the cash to
make and buy more programming for Disney+
Oct. 12, Disney restructures its media and entertainment
2020 businesses to accelerate Disney+ growth
May 16, Third Point liquidates its position in Disney
2022 during the first quarter, two years after the
hedge fund first invested and began urging the
media company to spend more aggressively on its
streaming platform
Aug. 15, Third Point discloses a stake of roughly $1
2022 billion and says it plans to push the media
company to make a string of changes
Sept. 11, Third Point’s Daniel Loeb backs off from
2022 pushing Disney to spin off ESPN
Sept. 30, Disney announces a truce with activist investor
2022 Third Point, saying it will appoint tech and
media veteran Carolyn Everson to the board
Nov. 8, Disney reports higher streaming customers, but
2022 high costs disappoint investors
Nov. 21, Bob Iger returns to Disney as chief executive
2022 less than a year after he retired, in a
surprise comeback
Nov. 28, Iger says one of his top priorities was to make
2022 the company’s streaming business profitable
Dec. 8, The ad-supported version of the Disney+ service
2022 launches, attracting major advertisers from
different sectors
Jan. 12, Activist investor Nelson Peltz formally
2023 launches a battle for a board seat at Disney
Jan. 17, In a letter to shareholders, Disney defends its
2023 board for denying Peltz a seat, saying he
“lacks the skills and experience” to help the
company
Feb. 8, Disney
2023 announces
restructuring; cuts 7,000 jobs as
part of its efforts to save $5.5 billion in
costs and make its streaming business
profitable
Feb. 9, Peltz declares that his proxy fight is over
2023
May 15, Trian adds to its stake in Disney by purchasing
2023 roughly 500,000 more shares since the end of
March, giving it a total of 6.4 million
Nov. 15, ValueAct builds a large stake in Disney and
2023 sees room for the entertainment giant’s stock
price to roughly double, sources familiar with
the investment firm’s thinking said.
Nov. 30, Peltz pushes ahead with plans to seek at least
2023 three board seats at Disney as Trian is not
satisfied with Iger’s changes, several people
familiar with the matter say
Dec 14, Disney braces for a bitter proxy battle as
2023 Peltz nominates himself and former Disney Chief
Financial Officer James “Jay” Rasulo to the
company’s board
Jan. 3, ValueAct and Blackwells move to provide backing
2024 to Disney as it defends itself against a board
challenge from activist investor Trian Fund
Management.
Jan. 16, Disney
2024 says
it “does not endorse” the
candidates nominated by activist shareholders
in a preliminary proxy filed with Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Jan. 31, Trian
2024 urges
Disney shareholders not to
re-elect two sitting board directors Maria
Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman.
Feb. 1, Disney
2024 sets
the shareholder meeting for April
3
Feb. 6, Blackwells
2024 urges
Disney shareholders to elect its
three board candidates, and suggests strategic
options including a potential separation of the
company into three entities that could
eventually become standalone public companies.
Feb. 7, Disney announces $1.5 billion stake in Epic
2024 Games, plans to launch an ESPN streaming
service in 2025 and a new $3 billion share
repurchase plan.
Feb. 28, Disney and Reliance Industries announce $8.5
2024 billion merger of media assets in India.
Feb. 29, Grandchildren of Roy and Walt
2024 Disney, founders of Disney,
back
CEO Iger and the board, opposing
activist investors in the proxy fight.
Mar. 4, Trian’s Peltz
2024 blames
“poor oversight” from Disney board
for the company’s issues, argues Disney was
slow to adapt to industry changes including
streaming, made errors in its acquisition
strategy and bungled succession planning.
Mar. 19, Filmmaker George Lucas
2024 backs
Disney CEO Iger in the proxy
battle
Mar. 21, Proxy advisory firm Institutional
2024 Shareholder Services (ISS)
recommends
shareholders vote to elect Peltz.
Mar. 28, Blackwells
2024 sues
Disney in a Delaware court for
information it says may point to possible
disclosure violations in dealings with hedge
fund ValueAct Capital.
Mar. 29, U.S. pension fund California Public
2024 Employees Retirement System (CalPERS)
votes
to elect Trian’s two director
candidates to Disney board.
Mutual fund firm and Disney
Apr. 1, investor T. Rowe Price
2024 says
it has voted for the entertainment
giant’s directors; BlackRock also backs Disney
board, sources tell Reuters.
Apr. 2, Vanguard Group, Disney’s largest
2024 shareholder
votes to elect
the entertainment giant’s
incumbent directors, according to Reuters
sources
Apr. 3, Disney shareholders back CEO Iger
2024 and other company directors at annual
shareholder meeting
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik, Harshita Mary Varghese, Akash Sriram and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Pooja Desai, Shounak Dasgupta and Alan Barona)
