Disney Uses Cartoon Character to Campaign Ahead of Annual Shareholder Meeting

The Walt Disney Company is fighting several battles right now — and it’s preparing for one of its biggest yet.

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Nelson Peltz and others have pleaded their cases for seats on Disney’s Board of Directors, and it’s all coming to a head at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders taking place in April. Disney has urged shareholders to vote for its 12 nominees instead of outside candidates and the Company has enlisted an unlikely character to help in those efforts!

Disney has launched a new website to urge shareholders to vote for their 12 nominees for the Company’s Board of Directors, and they’re using a familiar face to break it all down. The website, VoteDisney.com, includes information about the current Board and upcoming nominees, when the shareholders’ meeting is taking place, and who shareholders should vote for.

©Disney

And, Professor Ludwig Von Drake has been enlisted to help them out! The video states, “Remember it’s important you vote only for Disney’s 12 nominees using the white proxy card. Do not vote for the Trian group or Blackwell’s nominees. Voting this year is critical no matter how many or how few shares you may own … Please vote all of your shares on all of your accounts.”

The 2024 Walt Disney Company Annual Meeting of Shareholders is taking place on April 3rd. That’s when shareholders of the Walt Disney Company will vote on Nelson Peltz’s (and others’) attempt to gain a seat on the Board of Directors.

©Disney

In the video, a white proxy card is shown with Disney’s nominees selected and Trian’s and Blackwells nominees marked with red “X’s.”

We had previously shared that Trian nominated Peltz and former Disney CFO James Rasulo to the Walt Disney Company board back in December. Trian released a statement reading, in part, that the group “Believes the Disney Board’s lack of focus, alignment, and accountability has resulted in chronic underperformance at one of the world’s most iconic companies.”

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But, Disney has specified that “the Board does NOT endorse the nominations of Nelson Peltz and James Rasulo put forth by Trian Fund Management, L.P. and its affiliates, led by Nelson Peltz and supported by former Disney executive Isaac Perlmutter (collectively, the “Trian Group”).” The notice went on to say, “The Board recommends that shareholders do not vote for the Trian Group nominees, and that they reject a related proposal from the Trian Group to amend the Company Bylaws.”

Disney also made it clear that the Board “does not endorse the nominations of Craig Hatkoff, Jessica Schell and Leah Solivan put forth for election as directors by Blackwells Onshore I LLC, Blackwells Capital LLC and Jason Aintabi (collectively, the “Blackwells Group”).”

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Shareholders are encouraged to submit electronic votes no later than 11:59PM ET on April 2nd, 2024. If you’re a shareholder who is voting by mail, make sure you sign and put your envelope back in the mail by the date specified on the form.

You can see the list of 12 nominees that the Disney Board of Directors recommends for election at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders below:

Mary T. Barra — Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors Co.
Safra A. Catz — Chief Executive Officer of Oracle Corp. and its former President
Amy L. Chang — former senior executive at Cisco Systems, Inc. and Google and a current director of Procter & Gamble Co.
D. Jeremy Darroch — former Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Sky
Carolyn N. Everson — former senior executive at Instacart, Meta Platforms, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and a current director of The Coca-Cola Co. and Under Armour Inc.
Michael B.G. Froman — President of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Vice Chairman and President, Strategic Growth at Mastercard Inc.
James P. Gorman — Executive Chairman and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley
Robert A. Iger — Disney’s Chief Executive Officer, formerly also served as Chairman
Maria Elena Lagomasino — Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of WE Family Offices and a former senior executive at JP Morgan Private Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank and a current director of The Coca-Cola Co.
Calvin R. McDonald — Chief Executive Officer of lululemon athletica inc.
Mark G. Parker — serves as Chairman of the Disney Board, is Executive Chairman of NIKE, Inc. and its former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Derica W. Rice. — former senior executive at CVS Health Corp. and Eli Lilly and Co. and a current director of The Carlyle Group Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Target Corp.

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In addition to the shareholders meeting happening on April 3rd, we also expect to hear quite a bit of updates from the company during the first quarter earnings call of 2024. That call is taking place on February 7th at 4:30PM EST, so make sure you keep an eye out for the latest news from that!

We’ll continue to be on the lookout for updates on the proxy battle and annual shareholders meeting. For the latest Disney news, stay tuned to DFB!

Why April 3rd Is a BIG Day for the Walt Disney Company

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