DIS - Disney's Board Battle Picks Up Steam But This Time With New Wrinkles

2024-03-08 07:30:00 ET

Summary

• Disney’s board has again come under siege from an activist investor group looking to shake things up this April and “restore the magic” after a shaky period for the company.
• This time Trian Partners is the primary force moving the bid forward but aiming to come at it from a different approach than before.
• Trian has enlisted a former Disney executive as a partner and is leaning into a number of timely questions around CEO Bob Iger and his ideas.
• It's a busy time for Disney with a massive expansion into sports planned, a revamp of its film pipeline in play and the need to create an Iger succession plan.
• Iger is no stranger to activist tactics and is largely brushing off their attempts, especially since he now holds support from Walt Disney’s heirs and is seeing a stock turnaround.

It seems to be a tale as old as time.

Once again Disney’s ( DIS ) board has come under siege from an “activist investor” looking to shake things up and once again it falls to CEO Bob Iger to quell the resistance with some type of Jedi mind-trick. Yet this time it hits a bit different and it may be harder for Iger to ward off with a simple wave of the hand....

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