Even the Biggest Experts Are Questioning Whether Bob Iger Can Make Disney Work

With the shareholder meeting coming up next week on April 3, the fight for Disney’s future has become more serious than some might have imagined.

Disney has certainly had its hands full over the last year. Not only has the company been working on trying to resolve the situation in Central Florida with the Walt Disney World Resort and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board (although there have certainly been some positive developments in that vein), but it’s also been working against billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Nelson Peltz has become increasingly relevant with the upcoming April 3 shareholders meeting where Disney will quite literally be fighting for its future—a strangely similar to the situation they found themselves in with the new Reedy Creek Improvement District board i.e., the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board.

In this case, however, Nelson Peltz is aiming to de-seat two board members and replace them with Trian’s nominees: himself and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo.

The Walt Disney Company has opposed this multiple times and even Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney’s grand children including heiress Abigail Disney have spoken in support of the current board.

But with another firm now stating their support for Trian and Nelson Peltz, one can’t help but wonder whether Disney CEO Bob Iger’s era of “invincibility” as it were, is officially over.

The Trian chief told Financial Times in an interview, “Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?”

These critiques mirror those from a former Disney senior leader who was laid off in the cutting layoffs from last year, Ike Perlmutter. Perlmutter is playing a shadow role in Peltz’s campaign as well, seeing as he’s backing the campaign with billions of dollars worth of stock that he owns of Disney.

Disney is pulling out all the stops in making sure they hold onto the support of shareholders. But will it be enough? As The Hollywood Reporter explained,

Iger and the Disney board have lined up a murderers’ row of public supporters, securing letters of support from not only Laurene Powell Jobs, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, but also Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas, who disagrees with Iger about the right approach for future films in the sci-fi universe. And Disney secured letters of support from the families of Walt Disney and Roy Disney, including Abigail Disney, who has long critiqued Iger over his pay packages and the company’s treatment of its employees.

But will this actually give Disney the edge it needs or will it end up having its trajectory changed with the nomination of Peltz and Rasulo to the board? Only April 3 will tell.

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