(Reuters) -Activist hedge funds ValueAct Capital and Blackwells Capital moved on Wednesday to provide backing to Walt Disney as the 100-year-old media company defends itself against a board challenge from Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management.
The latest development comes after Peltz nominated himself and former Disney executive James “Jay” Rasulo to the board of the company in December.
Here is what happened since Iger retired in 2020 and after his return as CEO in 2022:
Date Event
Feb. 25, Iger retires after 15 years as CEO, handing the
2020 reins to Disney Parks head Bob Chapek; Iger
assumes post of executive chairman
Sept. 29, Disney says it will lay off about 28,000 parks
2020 unit employees due to coronavirus hit
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
Feb. 28, Disney pauses film releases in Russia over
2022 Ukraine invasion
March 4, Disney says it will offer a cheaper,
2022 ad-supported version of Disney+
March 10, Disney pauses all business in Russia
2022
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
May 16, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says he wants the
2022 state to take control of Disney’s special
district when it is scheduled to be dissolved
in June 2023
June 9, Chief Executive Bob Chapek announces a major
2022 leadership shift, promoting Dana Walden to
chairman of general entertainment content
June 28, Disney board unanimously votes to extend Chief
2022 Executive Officer Bob Chapek’s contract for
three years
Aug. 15, Third Point discloses a stake of roughly $1
2022 billion and said 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 Walt Disney Co to spin off ESPN
Sept. 14, Comcast Corp Chief Executive Brian Roberts
2022 signals to Disney the company will seek market
value for its minority stake in Hulu
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. 11, The company plans to freeze hiring and cut some
2022 jobs, according to a memo seen by Reuters
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 announces a restructuring, 7,000 job
2023 cuts, 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
March 27, Disney begins 7,000 layoffs as it seeks to
2023 control costs and create a more “streamlined”
business, according to a letter Iger sent to
employees, seen by Reuters
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
Oct. 9, Peltz is expected to ask Disney for “multiple”
2023 board seats, including one for himself,
according to a person familiar with the matter
Nov. 15, ValueAct has built 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. 28, Iger tells employees he faced a “myriad of
2023 challenges” upon returning to the company, but
remained upbeat about its prospects
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, Activist hedge funds ValueAct and Blackwells
2024 moved to provide backing to Disney as it
defends itself against a board challenge from
activist investor Trian Fund Management.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram, Tiyashi Datta, Jaspreet Singh and Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Pooja Desai and Shounak Dasgupta)
