CalPERS, the influential California pension fund, has voted to shake up the Disney board by backing the election of activist investors Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo who have waged a months-long battle with CEO Bob Iger and the incumbent board of directors.
The California Public Employees Retirement System told Reuters that the fund had cast its vote for Trian Partners’ Peltz and Rasulo as alternative directors to join the Disney board,. The fund which manages more than $465 billion in assets, owns about 6.6 million Disney shares, making it one of the company’s top 30 investors. Disney declined to comment on the Reuters report.
“CalPERS believes Walt Disney Co will benefit from fresh eyes on its board of directors and voted its company shares in favor of candidates Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo,” a spokesthe U.S. pension fund, which owned 6.65 million shares in the entertainment giant at the end of December, told Reuters.
Peltz, a longtime activist investor, has been publicly critical of Disney on and off for more than a year given the company’s struggling stock price and steep losses racked up by its fledgling streaming operations. Disney has battled back against Peltz and a separate activist fight to seat new directors waged by Blackwells Capital.
More to come
(Pictured: Trian Partners’ Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo)
