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Nelson Peltz’s Punch List

The feared activist investor is back inside Disney, rattling the cage, agitating for board seats, preparing white papers, and issuing warnings about the ABC fire sale. In my estimation, Iger has two choices: work with Peltz to restore the magic, or resign and find someone who can.

In the last two months, Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund, Trian Partners, has rebuilt its position in Disney with around $2.5 billion worth of stock.
In the last two months, Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund, Trian Partners, has rebuilt its position in Disney with around $2.5 billion worth of stock. Photo: Marco Bello/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
October 11, 2023

Bob Iger is looking more and more like St. Sebastian these days. Disney stock is down roughly 13 percent since he returned to the corner office in Burbank and continues to hover around its 52-week lows. The various strategic initiatives that he’s promised to execute—fixing Disney+, selling off ABC, figuring out a plan for Hulu and ESPN—have barely materialized. Then, over the weekend, comes the strategic leak that activist investor Nelson Peltz, “the smiling crocodile,” as Jeff Immelt once called him, has increased his stake in Disney and revived his firm’s plans for a proxy fight.