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Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger said Tuesday he is doing his best not to let an ongoing proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz divert his attention from turning the business around.
“I’m working really hard to not let this distract me because when I get distracted, everyone who works for me is distracted and that’s not a good thing,” Iger said Tuesday at Morgan Stanley’s media and telecommunications conference.
Last year, Peltz and his hedge fund Trian Fund Management has renewed a push to shake up the company’s board of directors when the stock price hit multi-year lows. Disney is grappling with challenges that include a declining linear TV business, slower growth in its parks business and losses in streaming.
Iger highlighted the complexity of managing Disney’s multifaceted business as various segments, such as streaming, face increasing disruption.
“His [a business] this requires not only a significant amount of knowledge, but also a huge amount of time and concentration,” he said. “This campaign is in a sense designed to distract us. … It takes time and focus to generate what we need for shareholders.”
Iger’s comments come after Trian posted a 130 page white paper on Monday blaming the board for Disney’s underperformance and accusing its members of a lack of “focus, alignment and accountability.”
Peltz is currently seeking board seats for himself, along with former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. If the proxy battle continues until the vote, a shareholder meeting scheduled for April 3 will determine the board’s fate.
Another investment firm, Blackwells Capital, supports the company’s current board of directors, but has urged shareholders to vote for its three nominees to add to it.
Disney shares managed to recover from all-time lows with an increase of about 11% year over year.
Since the start of 2024, shares have risen about 25%, outpacing the S&P 500’s 6% gain over the same time period.