Losing Fight With Disney Nets Nelson Peltz A $300M Payday, But Experts Say It Was 'A Grand Waste Of Time'

The long-standing proxy battle between The Walt Disney Company DIS and billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz has come to an end, yielding a $300 million profit for Peltz’s hedge fund, Trian Partners.

What happened: The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Trian Partners garnered an estimated $300 million from its 16-month proxy war with Disney. This figure is based on information from anonymous sources. The majority of this wealth is in paper form, according to the report.

In February 2024, Peltz made a paper profit of approximately $154 million after buying 9.4 million Disney shares. This coincided with a surge in Disney’s stock following a restructuring announcement by CEO Bob Iger, expected to save the company about $5.5 billion by cutting 7,000 jobs. Trian subsequently withdrew from its initial proxy battle against Disney.

Despite not winning the two board seats he aimed for, Peltz seems to view the outcome positively. “Since we reengaged with the company last October, Disney’s stock is up about 50% and is the Dow’s best performer here to date,” he said.

See Also: Jim Cramer Slams Cathie Wood’s ‘Bold’ Claims Of 80% Vehicles Being EV In A Few Years: ‘Painful’

However, James Park, a corporate law expert from the University of California, Los Angeles, told Business Insider that Peltz would have preferred to win the board seats, considering the time and effort invested in his activism. IAC chairman and billionaire Barry Diller referred to the proxy war as a “grand waste of time” and questioned the value of Peltz’s activist campaign.

Why it matters: As per a report from April 4, Peltz clarified misconceptions about his financial gain from the proxy battle with Disney in an interview on CNBC with Jim Cramer. On the same day, Disney CEO Bob Iger claimed Peltz brought no new ideas to Disney following the proxy fight.

Interestingly, a day before, on April 3, 2024, Elon Musk expressed his belief that Peltz should be on Disney’s board of directors. Musk’s endorsement of Peltz could have influenced Disney’s share price.

Price action: As of April 4, 2024, Disney’s stock closed at 116.60, down 0.42% from the previous close of 118.98.

Read Next: Elon Musk Reacts To Dramatic Drop In Prices Of Older AI Models, Draws Parallels To Google Search, Bing, Coke And Pepsi

Nelson Peltz and Disney logo via Shutterstock