Disney D-Day: Bob Iger Celebrates Board Battle Win & End Of “Distracting Proxy Contest”; Nelson Peltz “Disappointed” Then Tries To Spin It Into A Win

deadline.com:

Scoring a big and costly win Wednesday against Nelson Peltz’s second attempt to get on the Disney board, Bob Iger was both gracious and a little biting in victory.

Once the vote results were announced this morning during Disney’s annual meeting of shareholders, the past and present CEO address the virtual meeting to thank “shareholders for your trust and confidence in the Disney board and management and the ambitious strategy we’re implementing across our businesses to build for the future.” Of course, having had to fend off a direct challenge to his leadership from Peltz’s Trian Group and Ike Perlmutter behind the scenes, Iger also took a swing at his vanquished rivals today. “Now that this distracting proxy contest is behind us, we’re here to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities, growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers,” Iger said, without ever saying Peltz or Perlmutter or even Blackwells, the other activist investor. “Thank you again for your support and for your continued investment in this company,” he said before taking questions from shareholders on topics that included more Taylor Swift concert movies, political stances and theme-parks expansions.

Including Iger, Disney’s 12-member slate received the overwhelming votes of shareholders, with nearly 75% of retail shareholders backing the company, we hear.

On the specifics, after all the millions spent, Peltz got 31% of the vote. The Wendy’s chairman came up short to Disney slate nominee and company director Maria Elena Lagomasino by a hard 2 to 1 margin.