Disney Digest 4/7/24 (Bidding Adieu to Three Disney Headaches, and More)

I guess I should go to New Zealand on vacation more often. While I was gone, several of Disney’s headaches seem to have been resolved. Let’s get caught up.

Bye-Bye Nelson Peltz

Despite several proxy advisory firms supporting Nelson Peltz, it was retail investors that overwhelmingly delivered a victory for Bob Iger and the Board. Reports indicate that over 75% of retail investors (AKA normal people that own small amounts of shares) supported the Board-nominated slate.

Many Disney shareholders are fans or folks that received shares for their graduation or Bar Mitzvah. Disney knew this and engaged their fanbase, as well as their own employees, with their Vote Disney campaign. Bob Iger knew the power of Disney fans as he was an eyewitness of Roy Disney’s “Save Disney” proxy fight which led to him getting the job to begin with. While we may be able to critique Iger, I think we can all agree that he is better than Peltz, who clearly was doing this for personal reasons along with short-term gains.

Since the vote, it feels as if Disney has been doing a victory lap with Bob even being spotted at Disneyland and attending a celebrity-filled “Hulu on Disney+” soiree. Let’s hope that this milestone transitions the company from cutting and layoffs, to a new era of growth.

Bye-Bye Martin Garcia

Also announced was a settlement with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. While. on the surface, it may seem that Disney is retreating by nullifying the development agreement that they had in place, there does seem to be a move away from the antagonistic relationship that Disney had with the Board. Chairman Martin Garcia is gone as well as administrator Glen Gilzean — both of whom had been vocal about their disagreements with Disney.

In Garcia’s place is new board member Craig Mateer who worked with Disney when he owned Bags Inc. which handled the luggage for Magical Express as well as valet at deluxe resorts. Stephanie Kopelousos is the new District Administrator, who has had experience working with Disney when she was a legislative advisor. Even Florida politician Randy Fine who pushed for the abolishment of Reedy Creek, has changed his tune by saying he wants Disney to grow in Florida.

It seems like we are entering an age when the government wants to work with its taxpayers. This reconciliation even led to the reveal that Disney is planning on pulling the initial permits for “Beyond Big Thunder” in the coming weeks. Now that this situation is settled, perhaps we can get firefighters their park passes back.

Bye-Bye Norby Williamson

Norby Williamson, who has spent over 40 years at ESPN, is no longer with the company. This move comes as he still had time on his contract, but according to reports, his vision for ESPN did not align with his boss Burke Magnus and the head of ESPN Jimmy Pitaro.

Williamson is a bit of a controversial figure at ESPN, as he would manipulate situations to eliminate content he did not like through means like leaking ratings to the press. This scenario recently brought Magnus to the forefront when Pat McAfee called the ESPN executive “a rat.” While ESPN says that the incident did not play a role in his departure, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Anyone who watches ESPN knows what Williamson’s vision of production is, as it is what is currently on the air. If Pitaro and Magnus want to move in a different direction for the future, it shall be interesting to see what programming on ESPN looks like in the near future.

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