Disney CEO Bob Iger Says He’s Trying Hard “Not To Get Distracted” By Activist Investors

Disney CEO Bob Iger called the proxy fight being waged by two activist investors a campaign that “is, in a way, designed to distract us, to take our eye off all [that’s] necessary to do what we need to do to generate returns for shareholders.”

Nelson Peltz ‘ Trian Partners is fielding two director candidates – himself and former Disney executive Jay Rasulo — and has been aggressively soliciting Disney stockholders. Investment firm Blackwells Capital has nominated three candidates. Shareholders will elect the board at Disney’s annual meeting April 3.

Iger, speaking at a Morgan Stanley investor conference, said he’s “working very hard not to let this distract me. Because when I get distracted, everyone that works for me gets distracted, and that is not a good thing.”

He’s been back at Disney for 15 months now and said things were difficult but he’s pleased with where the company is – ahead on cost savings, heading to streaming profitability, in the midst of a studio turnaround, and investing heavily in parks and games.

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