Mission accomplished? Despite losing proxy fight against Disney, activist investor Nelson Peltz reportedly sold his entire stake for $1 billion in profit

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Nelson Peltz may have lost the battle against Disney, but in strictly financial terms, he may have won the war.

The activist investor led a months-long campaign against CEO Bob Iger and the media company’s board of directors, which ended in a decisive defeat at April’s annual shareholder meeting. At the heart of this effort was a scathing critique of the company’s then-faltering stock price. As Iger sought to cut costs and generate streaming profits, while trying to right a capsized movie ship and address a host of other challenges, the stock fell to its lowest level in several years l ‘last year. It has since recovered, rising 11% in 2024 so far, better than the growth of the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Several media outlets, citing an unidentified source close to the transaction, reported that Peltz’s company, Trian Fund Management, had sold its entire stake in Disney. Trian at one point controlled $3 billion in stock, including voting rights granted by former Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter, who teamed with Peltz in the proxy fight. CNBC, which received the first report of the stock sale, said last October that Trian had increased its stake to some 30 million shares.

A representative for Trian declined to comment when contacted by Deadline. Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Profit from the stock sale, which took place when the shares were worth about $120, was about $1 billion, according to reports. Disney stock closed Wednesday at $100.88

Peltz, who has led successful battles against business giants like Procter & Gamble, is already a billionaire in the Disney shocker. Asked about his lack of Hollywood knowledge, he did not deny it, but insisted that his outside perspective would be a tonic on the board, especially when combined with the experience of his ally Jay Rasulo, former financial director of Disney. Peltz also accused board members of treating Iger with too much respect. Disney, for its part, maintained that the company was in good hands with Iger, who returned as CEO in 2022 after his nearly five-decade tenure at ABC and Disney culminated with a previous tenure as CEO of 2006 to 2020.