CS Insights: Activist's Media Mastery is Real Magic

April 1, 2024

A little over a year ago, Nelson Peltz demanded Disney executives give him a seat on their board. They didn’t and he went away. Then he returned and asked for the same thing. They demurred, again. Okay, he said, we’ll let shareholders decide.

There really isn’t much more to the Peltz-Disney proxy battle than that; neither the ask nor Disney’s response to it has changed. And yet the clash, which shareholders will vote on this week, has dominated business news in a way that few other stories can because Peltz has mastered the art of sustaining media intrigue in stasis.

Unlike other activists, who rely on an informational alchemy whereby moderately interesting developments become exciting news when made exclusive, Peltz doesn’t even need to “leak”. Instead, he doles out well-timed access that leverages his (justified) reputation as a man in whose proximity interesting things happen. His statements, however chalky, get covered and covered heavily because, well, he’s Nelson Peltz.

Here he is talking about Disney in the Financial Times last week: “I’m not trying to fire (Disney CEO) Bob Iger, I want to help him” And on CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier in the year: “They promised they were going to improve things. I took them at their word. Things got worse. The stock went down. Results got worse. So, no more.”

With the greatest respect to personal taste, these are not irresistible insights. They are also things he has been saying, on and off, for over a year now. But Peltz is saying them, so they have news value and thus his campaign is amplified. In a fight like this, where publicity is all, that matters.

Whether Peltz is right or wrong, wins or loses this week, his ability to get so much bang for so little buck is a magical thing.

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