Walter Disney was born in Chicago on Dec. 5, 1901.
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While fans of
Walt Disney
animation might be celebrating the birthday of the entertainment company’s namesake animator and film pioneer, investors are keenly focused on the continued battle for board seats.
Walter Disney was born in Chicago on Dec. 5, 1901, and went on to create animated pictures such as Steamboat Willie and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that forever altered the way movies are made. Now, more than 120 years after his birth, eight of the 10 highest grossing moves of all time are Disney films, according to Box Office Mojo.
Since January 1972, Disney stock has returned 6,705.5% without dividends and 10,749.9% including dividends through Monday’s close, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock’s best year since 1972 was 1975, when it rose 140% in the year, while its worst year was 1973, when it fell 59%.
It hasn’t always been an easy road for the entertainment and media conglomerate. Since 1973, the stock has closed higher in 31 years and lower in 20 years. And while the stock is currently up 4.9% so far this year, issues with recent box office success, the expensive transition to streaming, Hollywood strikes, disagreements with state politicians, and board debates have recently concerned investors.
The complications continued for Disney on Tuesday as investment firm and Disney shareholder Ancora Holdings Group issued an open letter to fellow shareholders, calling on the company to compromise with Trian Fund Management to add Nelson Peltz, or a qualified designee, to the board.
“A degree of shareholder-driven change is certainly warranted in Disney’s boardroom following an extended period of absentminded governance, ineffective succession planning, polarizing actions and sustained value destruction,” Ancora said in the letter.
Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ancora’s support for Trian’s Peltz comes after Disney’s board appointed Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and media executive Jeremy Darroch as new directors on Wednesday. Trian then said in a release last week that Disney extended an offer for the investment firm to meet with the board, but informed Trian that the board is turning down its recent request for board representation, including Peltz.
“Disney’s share price has underperformed proxy peers and the broader market over every relevant period during the last decade and over the tenure of each incumbent director,” Trian said in the release. “Investor confidence is low, key strategic questions loom, and even Disney’s CEO is acknowledging that the Company’s challenges are greater than previously believed.”
Trian added that while Gorman and Darroch represent an “improvement from the status quo,” the addition of these directors won’t restore investor confidence.
Shares of Disney were down 1% Tuesday to $91.12. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 0.4%.
Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]
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