Six Takeaways from an Interview with a Grumpy Old Man
Last week, The Walt Disney Company laid off someone who claims to be its largest shareholder. Somehow, that’s not even the shocker.
The reclusive billionaire in question, Isaac Perlmutter, gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal.
That’s pretty much the biggest coup WSJ could get other than J.D. Salinger, and even that’s because Salinger died in 2010.
Perlmutter DOES NOT give interviews. That’s his thing. So, the simple fact that he spoke up here indicates that He Big Mad about what happened.
Here are six takeaways from this interview with Disney’s biggest shareholder and also its biggest obstacle, a grumpy old man called Ike.
Perlmutter Claims He Was Fired
Let’s start with the headline here.
While you and I may argue it’s a matter of semantics, Perlmutter wants the world– or at least snooty rich people sipping brandy while they read WSJ – to know he was fired.
What’s the difference between being fired and laid off? Most business executives would tell you that layoffs are impersonal but necessary.
When someone fires you, that’s personal. It’s because they don’t like you.
So, I think we can all agree that yes, Disney fired Perlmutter rather than laid him off.
When someone constantly acts cranky and frequently diminishes co-workers, they’re asking to get fired. That was Perlmutter.
Perlmutter’s outrage here stems from the fact that nobody, but nobody, fires Ike Perlmutter!
I’m not really saying this tongue-in-cheek, either. The reality is that Bob Iger is intentionally angering some powerful people right now.
There’s an inherent risk in that.
Perlmutter Claims Disney Doesn’t Care Enough about ROI
No matter what anyone thinks about Ike Perlmutter, the man’s a business genius.
This guy used to sell toys on the streets of New York. Now, he’s a billionaire. That doesn’t happen by accident.
I mention this because one of his comments isn’t something either side would dispute.
Perlmutter bluntly states, “I have no doubt that my termination was based on fundamental differences in business between my thinking and Disney leadership, because I care about return on investment (ROI).”
This former Disney executive indicates he cares more about ROI than Bob Iger. On paper, that’s an inflammatory accusation.
With Perlmutter, it falls more into the category of “the devil’s in the details.”
Disney executives weren’t about to fish paper clips out of trash cans to save money. Do you know why?
You can buy 1,000 paper clips on Amazon for $10. Anyone working at the top of Marvel’s food chain is probably earning hundreds of dollars per hour.
In many instances, you’re costing the company money by stopping what you’re doing to grab a paper clip.
For Perlmutter, examples like this demonstrate a mentality. You’re showing you care about every penny the company spends.
Other Disney executives proved repeatedly that they could attain a spectacular return on investment without taking such a nitpicky approach.
Perlmutter Hates Creatives
This statement wouldn’t qualify as a shocking revelation in any circumstance. Anyone who can read between the lines has known this for years.
In truth, the Wall Street and Hollywood philosophies have battled for generations now.
Some people care about making money more than anything else. Others perceive their creativity as a means of making money and embrace that instead.
Nobody’s fully right or wrong here. There are hilarious stories from decades ago about Apple and IBM executives meeting for the first time.
The IBM crew wore three-piece suits, while the Apple folks were wearing t-shirts and flip-flops. It’s a culture shock but also a societal fact of life.
I’ve often discussed how Wall Street wants one of its own, like Bob Chapek, running The Walt Disney Company. Hollywood prefers a creative type.
Disney is blessed because Iger can walk between both worlds and appear perfectly comfortable. Chapek…could not.
Perlmutter is on Team Chapek here. Here is a quote about his Marvel frustrations:
“All they talk about is box office, box office,” Mr. Perlmutter said. “I care about the bottom line. I don’t care how big the box office is. Only people in Hollywood talk about box office.”
On the one hand, that’s a frustrated old man ranting. However, the statement also demonstrates that Perlmutter didn’t really “get” Disney’s vision for Marvel.
A film’s box office functions as a protracted marketing campaign. When a title does well, it’ll sell more merchandise and offer other revenue opportunities.
Even Chapek understood this system, which he called a flywheel.
To this day, Perlmutter still doesn’t get that. He’s an anti-Hollywood dude, and the box office discussions personify his dislikes.
Perlmutter Gave Chapek Advice on Don’t Say Gay
According to this interview, Perlmutter owns 30 million shares of Disney stock worth approximately $3 billion.
For this reason, you can understand why Disney executives must take the call when Perlmutter wants to talk.
The former Marvel leader apparently advised Bob Chapek on how to address the Don’t Say Gay legislation in Florida.
According to Perlmutter, he said, “Don’t get involved in politics. You’re going to get hurt. It’s a no-win situation.”
Remarkably, Perlmutter, a Disney executive at the time, took Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ side in the struggle.
Perlmutter reported the following conversation: “Ron, you’re right. Disney doesn’t have the right to get involved with politics, and you know, I’m the largest individual shareholder.”
Sidestepping the political issues here, it’s fascinating that Perlmutter strongly encouraged Disney to sit on the sidelines as cast members begged the company to speak out. In fact, it explains a lot.
Interestingly, Perlmutter uses the WSJ interview to describe other acts of philanthropy and generosity.
According to Perlmutter, he personally called Disney’s HR department to inform them that he would “pay any costs of gender-transition surgery that aren’t covered by insurance for any Disney employee.”
The entrepreneur added, “…if anyone would like to change their sex, my professor is the number one in the country…They should call me, and I’ll help them to make an appointment.”
So, Perlmutter’s actions don’t align with the intentions of the Florida legislation in question.
The billionaire apparently genuinely thought Disney should just stay out of it because it was a no-win scenario.
Perlmutter Denies He Wanted Kevin Feige Fired
Here’s a spot where the facts don’t align with what Perlmutter says.
During the interview, “Mr. Perlmutter described the clash as a disagreement over movie budgets and said he wasn’t trying to get Mr. Feige fired.”
However, we did gain more insight into the cause of the issues. Perlmutter simply didn’t like what the creatives were paying for film productions.
As someone with limited experience in Hollywood, Perlmutter believed that filmmakers were wasteful by nature.
In his own words, “I learned one thing about creative people my whole life: You cannot give them an open credit card.…They’re doing this for 30 years, why would they change?”
So, yeah, he sounds like a nightmare of a boss. Perlmutter wanted to examine the production costs and find places to trim, no matter how ridiculous the requests were.
After Disney reorganized Marvel in 2015, Perlmutter lost oversight over production budgets. That didn’t stop him from trying, though.
Instead, the executive continued to sneak a peek whenever he could. Apparently, Disney discovered what he was doing and cut him off for good in 2021.
In October 2022, Perlmutter was still asking Disney for details regarding the expenditures for Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Folks, the Dr. Strange sequel earned $956 million against a production budget of no more than $200 million. It’s an excellent demonstration of micromanaging.
Marvel produced a wildly successful movie. The former head of Marvel doesn’t think it earned enough. There’s no pleasing some people.
Perlmutter Respects Iger
While the interview comes across as Perlmutter disliking Iger, the recluse adds some interesting comments.
For starters, Perlmutter mentions that while their relationship “frayed” after 2015, they’d demonstrated mutual respect after Disney bought Marvel.
In fact, the notoriously penny-pinching Perlmutter claimed that “in 2014 he advocated for the board to give a generous compensation package to Mr. Iger, after the CEO told him that he felt he underpaid.”
I can’t shake the feeling that Perlmutter feels hurt more than anything. I wonder whether Iger should take the opportunity to extend an olive branch here.
Even at 80, Ike Perlmutter remains someone you want on your side rather than against you.
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Feature Photo(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)