Activist investor Nelson Peltz, the 81-year-old founder of the multibillion-dollar hedge fund Trian Partners, released a 133-page presentation on Tuesday outlining what it would seek if it won a seat on Disney's board at its April 3 annual meeting. Peltz owns $3 billion in Disney stock.
One change suggested on the corporate governance side by Peltz is for Disney to provide shareholders with numbers on how business unit executives are compensated. Peltz also wants to revamp Disney's organizational structure, but admitted it was “impossible to fully understand how best to improve the current structure from the outside.”
When it comes to streaming, Peltz wants clarity on how Disney plans to keep subscribers on streaming services while also making that part of the business profitable. Disney raised prices for Disney+ and Hulu in October and introduced a Hulu tile within Disney+ in December to drive bundle subscriptions.
In the presentation, Peltz advocates fully integrating Disney+ and Hulu into one product and evaluating whether Hulu Live is a good product to offer.
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Nelson Peltz, founder and CEO of Trian Fund Management. Photo: Marco Bello/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Peltz also takes issue with Disney's box office performance: “Recent Disney animated films have generated less demand at the box office and cost significantly more to produce,” the presentation said.
Disney reported stellar earnings in February, with profits of $1.91 billion, up to 49% from the same period of the previous year. Disney also noted a 1.2 million increase in Hulu subscribers from the previous quarter.
Disney CEO Bob Iger, whom Peltz called out personally in the report for his close personal relationship with the Disney board, said in March that he is “working hard not to let it distract me.”
Peltz looking board seats last year but aborted the attempt after Iger announced a many billion dollars plan to reduce costs in technology, market, content and its workforce. Disney implemented layoffs in March that took effect 7000 people.
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Members of the Disney family have been critical of Peltz, with film producer and activist Abigail Disney saying THE New York Times that although she has had disagreements with Bob Iger, “I know for a fact that the worst thing that can happen to the company is Nelson Peltz.”
Grandchildren of Roy O. Disney and Walt E. Disney, including Abigail, sign open letters last week that clearly stated support for Iger and his leadership.
“What worries us most about these hedge fund-backed opportunists is that they have little or no knowledge of what Disney really means to people like you,” one letter said. “They haven't argued why they should be trusted with the keys to the kingdom our family built.”
Meanwhile, Peltz's daughter, Nicola Peltz Beckham, is an actress who made it directorial debut in February.