Disney Reportedly Secures Votes To Win Proxy Battle

Disney has reportedly defeated efforts to have Nelson Peltz and his Trian Fund Management partners enter their board. Reuters reports that the company has enough shareholder votes to nullify the challenge from the activist investor group. The Disney board directors are safely ahead of Trian's proposed candidates as of last night's reporting. Both Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Resulo came up short. But, they are not the only losers as Blackwells Capital's 3 submissions to the board were felled as well. After some incendiary comments from Peltz on the "campaign trail" the announcement of his defeat may be a little bitter.

During today's Disney Shareholders Meeting, the full results will be announced. Reuters' sources were quick to point out there could be some last-minute shakeups. But, the institution has to feel good, along with their sources, to put out a report before the meeting gets rolling at 10 am PT. For the company, all this attention has raised stock prices as different investment groups have shown their support or questioned what's going on with Disney. For now, CEO Bob Iger's renovation strategy seems to be working and that was enough to convince the shareholders to stay the course.

George Lucas Backs Bob Iger

This war of words has brought some big names into the spotlight to back Iger and Disney's regime. Star Wars creator George Lucas had a few words to say last week. He issued a statement throwing his full weight behind Iger and the existing Disney leadership. Lucas doesn't really make public statements that often. So, he felt like it was necessary to explain how crucial the steady hand of experience can be when steering a company.

"Creating magic is not for amateurs," Lucas began his statement. "When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my longtime admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership."

"When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved. No one knows Disney better," Lucas added. "I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value. I have voted all of my shares for Disney's 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same."

Nelson Peltz's History With Disney

Peltz has come into conflict with the other Disney leadership multiple times. Iger told CNBC about the power play's underlying dynamics during an interview. He pointed out how Trian Partners is 75% owned by Ike Perlmutter. The former Marvel executive has some complicated personal ties to both Disney and Marvel that help color the conflict that continues to play out.

"Our filings indicate that both Ike and Nelson were working together to try to encourage the board or convince the board to put Nelson on the board," he recalled. "They have a relationship that dates back quite some time. We bought Marvel in 2009. I promised Ike the job that he would continue to run Marvel after that. Not forever, necessarily. But after that. 

Iger would also mention, "And in 2015 he was intent on firing Kevin Feige who was running Marvel's studio, the movie making [operation] at the time, and I thought that was a mistake and stepped in to prevent that from happening. I think Kevin is an incredibly, incredibly talented executive that you know, the Marvel track record speaks for itself. And so I moved the moviemaking operation of Marvel out from under Ike into the movie studio under Alan Horn"

Had you been following this situation? Let us know down in the comments!