Disney for Dummies: The Succession-esque story behind the scenes of the “wayward” studio
Disney was defeated at the global box office in 2023, and now a bunch of hedge funds are vying for power behind the scenes
Aux News Disney
Steamboat Willie in the public domain is far from Disney’s only drama. The company appears to be at an inflection point; after reigning supreme for years with the help of Marvel movie dominance, the crown is finally starting to slip. For the first year since 2015, Disney failed to lead the global box office in 2023, per Variety. And behind the scenes, Big Rich Guys are battling it out for the opportunity to steer the ship in a new direction.
It was already obvious that 2023 was a disappointing year for Disney, but the postgame numbers make it all the more clear. The studio didn’t have an entry in the top three films of the year (Barbie from Warner Bros., The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer from Universal), and it didn’t have a single film cross the $1 billion benchmark for the first time in almost a decade (barring the pandemic years of 2020/2021, per Variety). Though the studio still made a boatload of money, it put out ultra-expensive films that largely underperformed (Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Haunted Mansion, etc.).
Marvel is having its own nervous C-suite conversations about how to recapture its past glory, but a level above, Disney’s investors are beginning to battle it out to shape the future of the company. While it seems there’s still confidence in the once and future king Robert Iger as CEO, a group of activist hedge funds are vying for more power on Disney’s board, according to Axios. This is a Rich Guy rabbit hole that would work well as a plot on Succession, so buckle up!
Trian, an investment firm that Axios describes as having “the largest activist stake in the company,” is seeking to nominate two members to Disney’s board, including co-founder Nelson Peltz (see: Chairman of fast food chain Wendy’s, billionaire father of Nicola Peltz-Beckham). In a statement, the hedge fund said it “can no longer sit idly by as the incumbent directors and their hand-picked replacements stand in the way of necessary change,” adding that “Disney has woefully underperformed its peers and its potential” (via Reuters). Trian is backed by investment management firm Ancora, which said in a letter (via Axios) that “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.”
But Trian’s nominations are opposed by Blackwells Capital, which happens to be fighting it out with Peltz and Trian for control of the board over at Wendy’s. Blackwells wants to nominate three people to Disney’s board, and accused Peltz of “peacocking” in its own scathing statement, saying Peltz nominating himself was “driven by animus against Mr. Iger, and an ego-driven urge to claim credit for a transformation already underway.” Further, Blackwells accused Ancora of shady business dealings and called on the Disney Board to “investigate Trian’s relationship with Ancora and other shareholders.”
Meanwhile, Disney released a statement confirming a new confidentiality agreement with ValueAct Capital which “enables the company to provide information to the investment firm and consult with ValueAct on strategic matters,” presumably in exchange for ValueAct’s support of current leadership. In response, a Trian spokesperson told Axios, “Trian welcomes other shareholders attempting to help fix this iconic but wayward company.”
Basically, it seems like the one thing everyone can agree on is that Disney is in some trouble, though it’s unclear how any of these Big Rich Guys plan on getting the company back on track. One might think that an entertainment media company should be driven by clear-eyed creative pursuits first, but we all know the world is run by hedge fund managers making financial speculations. It remains to be seen whether any of these boardroom battles will put Disney back on top, but the company might want to consider getting Jesse Armstrong to dramatize the situation—catty businesspeople strategizing against each other, at least, has a proven track record of success.
18 Comments
“Okay guys, hear me out. Remember that live action version of The Lion King that made us so much money? What if…we do an animated remake?!”
I’m still wondering why the fuck they’re doing a live action remake of a perfectly fine animated movie that’s fewer than 10 years old (Moana).
Why? Because it’s an easy decision with little risk for whoever made it. They own the IP, they hope to attract the fans of the original, and it will stimulate interest in all of the associated products. And if it doesn’t yield big returns, they can always deflect blame, because “Who knew it wouldn’t be as popular as the animated original?”. That’s what is behind all of the sequel/prequel/reboots that all of the studios keep making.
This is another one of those “profit was high but not high enough” bullshit scenarios, right?
Yep.LINE. *MUST*. ALWAYS. GO. UP!
“Sure, you made us all rich. But someone has to be held responsible for all the money we didn’t make.”Disney isn’t “in trouble,” they aren’t losing money overall even if some specific things did. They just aren’t making as much as some people want them to. If they want to get “in trouble” then letting people with no artistic vision who only look at the line going up seems a good way to do it.
From the same people who brought you “Every song downloaded from Napster is a lost sale”!
Yes, big business is pretty much all about ‘numbers go up’ these days.
Big Business has always been about numbers go up. We just know more about it than we used to.If they cared about their workers, they wouldn’t be publicly traded on the stock market like pork bellies and oil futures.
Well, obviously a bunch of money-grubbing shitheads complaining that Disney isn’t profitable enough, or whatever, are going to do great things for the progress of art in our culture.
I can’t say I’m a huge fan of much of the content Disney is producing these days (although I did have a pretty good time with What If season 2), the answer to its problems is obviously not a bunch of venture funding idiots who just want scraps of its profits. That will be the easiest way for Disney as a company to tank creatively. None of these suits has a single bone in their body for innovation, animation, or progressive narrative storytelling. They just want a share.
They already have a share. They’re shareholders. They want control.
Anecdotally, things don’t feel much better in the Parks division either (which nearly matches the revenue of their Entertainment division), where public sentiment has been eroding for several years now as well. I don’t see how there’s a fast fix for either that would appease the hedge fund types.
The least interesting aspect of Succession were the business dealings and maneuverings. The show was about the dynamics between the Roys and their underlings. They viewed the world through a ruthlessly capitalist lens, but that’s what informed their characters and how they treated everyone else. Unless someone researches *scrolls up because I forgot their names already* Nelson Peltz and, uh, “Blackwells” and finds them to be entertaining human beings, nobody wants to see this shit dramatized. Watching it play out in real time is far more entertaining.
Based on their current choice of who to run Star Wars, maybe this isn’t the worst idea. Can’t believe I said that, but man, talk about doubling down on a losing strategy.
“What if…we bring some of our animated classics back from the vault?”“You genius, you’ve done it again!’
Peltz and Aintabi are both Conservatives, so their ‘activism’ is to support Trumpian politics. Disney made unholy wealth, massive profits, but not quite as high as predicted, and under end-stage capitalism that is unforgivable. I can only imagine the fund managers are crying that ‘supporting woke agendas’ – like not being actively hostile and abusive to LGBT+ people – are what downgraded Disney from ‘unimaginably profitable’ to only ‘ungodly profitable’ and therefore Something Must Be Done.After all, if profit is not always absurdly accelerating upwards, forever, regardless of the very planet being a limited resource, then what indeed is the point of existence?Rather than considering a freshening of creative talent, I feel confident the push will be to satisfy the comfort of bigots in order to increase profits back up to the ‘Unimaginable’ status again. Blood money is still money, after all.
You’re leaving out that Nelson Peltz is a huge backer of Ron DeSantis and wants Disney to be “less political.” He’s also close friends with Ike Perlmutter, who is backing Peltz’s move to take over the board, and wants to personally appoint the new CEO (Jay Rasulo is who Perlmutter likes).