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Nelson Peltz’s Other C.E.O. Gambit

The activist circling Disney just helped orchestrate another C.E.O. succession. Should Bob Iger recalculate whether he wants Peltz outside the tent?

Trian founder partner Nelson Peltz has commenced a proxy battle against Disney to get the board seat Iger denied him.
It’s still not clear whether Nelson Peltz is going to continue to lobby privately for the Disney board seats he wants or whether he’ll go the public route again. Photo: Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
February 1, 2023

Nelson Peltz has had a busy few months. The activist investor, who over the years has successfully agitated for C.E.O. changes at Heinz and DuPont and Procter & Gamble and GE, began last summer by snake charming Bob Chapek, then the C.E.O. of Disney, suggesting various ideas about the future of ESPN and Hulu, among other things, at a tête-à-tête at EuroDisney. By November, his firm Trian Partners began amassing a nearly $1 billion position in the company.