Disney has announced the official results from its board election at its yearly meeting on April 3. The House of Mouse defeated activist investors Trian Fund Management and Blackwells Capital by a significant margin.
Disney’s picks included CEO Bob Iger, Mary Barra, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Safra Catz, Amy Chang, Carolyn Everson, Michael Froman, Calvin McDonald, Mark Parker, Derica Rice, James Gorman, and Jeremy Darroch. recent appointees James Gorman and Jeremy Darroch.
On the other hand, Trian nominated Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo, and Blackwells nominated Jessica Schell, Craig Hatkoff and Leah Solivan.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, around 1.26 billion shares, or 68.95% of the company’s total 1.83 billion outstanding shares, were represented at the meeting.
The filing notes that nine out of the 12 Disney-supported director candidates received over 90% of the shares cast in their favor. The top three candidates were James Gorman, who received 98%, followed by Darroch and Chang, with 96% each. Iger received 94% of the votes cast in his favor.
The official vote tallies are as follows:
| Nominee | For | Withold |
| Mary Barra | 1,107,177,381 |
83,150,732 |
| Safra Catz | 1,115,731,749 |
74,564,259 |
| Amy Chang | 1,148,273,116 | 42,045,421 |
| Jeremy Darroch | 1,148,318,045 |
41,975,816 |
| Carolyn Everson | 1,108,561,414 | 81,735,537 |
| Michael Froman | 1,041,678,945 | 148,647,978 |
| James Gorman | 1,160,913,669 | 29,381,691 |
| Bob Iger | 1,118,352,501 | 72,002,255 |
| Maria Elena Lagomasino | 748,599,867 |
441,719,526 |
| Calvin McDonald | 1,111,300,256 | 78,990,932 |
| Mark Parker | 1,043,850,777 | 146,523,573 |
| Derica Rice | 1,088,245,081 | 102,055,853 |
| Nelson Peltz | 369,785,247 |
819,457,227 |
| Jay Rasulo | 139,032,866 |
1,050,190,919 |
| Craig Hatkoff | 23,781,511 |
1,165,409,725 |
| Jessica Shell | 24,587,900 |
1,164,617,574 |
| Leah Solivan | 23,771,394 |
1,165,411,209 |
Following the vote, Trian expressed disappointment but also stated that they are proud of the impact they have had in refocusing the company on value creation and good governance.
Trian added, “We will be watching the Company’s performance and be focusing on its continued success.”
Peltz later appeared on CNBC and indicated to anchor Jim Cramer that he would return for another proxy fight if Disney and Iger do not follow through on their promises.
“I hope Bob can keep his promises. I hope they can do all the things they assured us they were going to do and we’ll only watch and wait,” he said. “If they do it, they won’t hear from me again. If they don’t, Jim, you may be seeing me on your show next year doing this same thing again. So it’s really up to management, it’s up to the board, it’s up whether they do what they say they are going to do, or if it’s the same old story again.”
After getting through the “distracting proxy contest,” Iger said the board was “eager to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers.”
In his own CNBC interview with David Faber, he said the board’s main priority moving forward would be identifying his successor. The search is being overseen by a committee made up of Parker, Barra, Gorman and McDonald.
“They met seven times last year, they intend to meet even more this year. They are confident they will choose the right person at the right time and they have some time to do that,” Iger said. “They’re treating it with a sense of urgency because it is so important. Clearly shareholders care about that, given what the company has been through these last few years.”
There will be more coming in the future…
