South Carolina Is Selling Its Disney Assets
Even as Walt Disney Company stock appears to be on the rebound, Bob Iger’s company cannot stay out of the news.
While Elon Musk continues to call for Iger to be “fired immediately” on X after Disney temporarily stopped advertising on the platform, South Carolina has announced that it is pulling state funds from Disney.
Photo: Getty Images
According to South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, Disney is “broken” and cannot be fixed.
“I think it’s clear to anybody paying attention that there’s a structural rot inside of Disney. It’s deep, it’s pervasive, and I suspect Bob Iger, since his return as the CEO, now realizes it can’t be fixed,” he said.
Credit: Disney
“A Tremendous Loss to America”
In total, the State Treasurer’s Office’s portfolio includes $105 million in Disney debt securities. According to Loftis, the holdings will not be renewed upon maturity.
In his comments, Loftis criticized Disney’s embrace of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria, arguing that it is counterintuitive to the principles of investing.
The Walt Disney Company
“People sometimes forget that ESG has nothing to do with investing,” he said. “ESG is a speech and behavior code that was … created by the left and delivered to everybody else under these virtuous circumstances, or presumed circumstances.”
According to Loftis, it is not Disney’s policies that are the problem, but their leadership.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“The sane, sober, talented, mature people are gone, and now you have the gender studies crowd running Disney,” he explained. “That’s why their movies are flops and their market cap, I think, is about half what it used to be. It’s a tremendous loss to America, we all grew up on Disney.”
The Move Won’t Affect Disney
In the end, Loftis knows that South Carolina’s stand will not have any real impact on Disney. Instead, he says, the state is looking for other investments that are “less risky”.
“We’re not going to cause Disney any real harm,” he said, “I just want other people to see that you can stand up to these people and you live to invest another day. There are plenty of good investments out there that aren’t as risky as Disney.”
Photo: Disney
For Disney, however, the issue is not financial ramifications but another hit to its reputation. Whether it is fair or not, The Walt Disney Company has been firmly painted as a politically charged company.
While Bob Iger has previously spoken about his desire to stay out of the culture wars. That decision, however, may no longer be his to make.
