Nelson Peltz Will Nominate Himself and Ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to Disney’s Board of Directors
Activist investor Nelson Peltz is back, and this time, he wants two seats on the Walt Disney Board of Directors.
This time, Peltz is being fueled by former President of Marvel (and longtime thorn in Bob Iger’s side) Ike Perlmutter. The active investor’s Trian Management is now overseeing more than $2 billion in Disney stock that belongs to the former Disney executive.


Creator: Mike Blake Credit: REUTERS
Peltz Will Nominate Jay Rasulo
In addition to himself, Nelson Peltz will nominate former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo for a board seat.
“The Disney I know and love has lost its way,” said Rasulo in a statement. “As independent voices in the boardroom, Nelson and I are confident that the combination of my decades of experience at Disney, Nelson’s significant boardroom skills and history of driving positive strategic change, and our combined consumer brands expertise and financial acumen, will be additive to the Disney Board.”


Photo: Variety
Rasulo left the Walt Disney Company after Iger promoted Tom Staggs to COO.
Trian Says Disney Is Underperforming
On Thursday, Trian submitted a notice of its intention to nominate two independent director candidates at Disney’s 2024 shareholder meeting.
“Disney is one of the most iconic companies in the world with unrivaled scale, unparalleled customer loyalty, irreplaceable intellectual property (IP), and an enviable commercial flywheel. However, Disney has woefully underperformed its peers and its potential,” Trian said in a statement.


(Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Disney)
Peltz publically renewed his proxy fight last month in another bid to join the Disney board. His latest maneuver came a day after Disney named Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky head Sir Jeremy Darroch as new directors. The new board members were seen by many as a maneuver to fend off Peltz.
After being rejected by Disney, Trian stated that it would “take our case for change directly to shareholders.”


Photo: Trian Logo
In response to Peltz’s proxy fight, Disney released a statement noting that 78% of Trian’s Disney stock came from Perlmutter. According to Disney, Perlmutter “was terminated from his employment by Disney earlier this year and has voiced his longstanding personal agenda against Disney’s CEO, Robert A. Iger, which may be different than that of all other shareholders.”
Peltz Says the Board is Too Closely Tied to Iger
Peltz is arguing that Disney stock has underperformed its media-industry peers. “Disney shareholders were once over $200 billion wealthier than they are now,” Trian said, referencing the market value lost between March 8, 2021, and October 6, 2023.


Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Mr. Iger has sold the vast majority of his ownership stake built up primarily through share-based compensation — more than $1 billion of Disney stock – leaving shareholders alone to face the daunting reality of a complex turnaround in a rapidly evolving industry,” Trian said in its Dec. 14 statement.
At the core of the issue, Trian says, is a Disney board that is tied too closely to Iger.


The Walt Disney Company
Trian continued, “The root cause of Disney’s underperformance, in our view, is a board that is too closely connected to a long-tenured CEO and too disconnected from shareholders’ interests.”