While shareholder activist Nelson Peltz tried to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in his proxy fight with Disney, CEO Bob Iger secured a resounding win at Wednesday’s annual general meeting. Shareholders’ support for Disney’s slate of directors—and their rejection of Peltz and former Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter’s effort to secure board seats for Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo—is also a win for impact investors and those who believe companies must answer to multiple stakeholders.
From the start, Peltz and Perlmutter portrayed this proxy fight as an epic battle in the culture wars, an underdog tale of two billionaire Davids taking on a “woke” Goliath. Peltz played a curmudgeon, complaining about movies with too many women and Black people. Perlmutter walked that walk, having tried to veto such projects at Marvel before being ousted last year….
