Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, voiced his support for Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger in his proxy war against activist investor Trian Partners, according to CNBC.
“Bob is a first-class executive and outstanding leader who I’ve known for decades. He knows the media and entertainment business cold and has the successful track record to prove it,” Dimon told CNBC’s David Faber.
“It’s a complicated industry filled with creative talent, requiring the unique expertise and engagement skills that Bob possesses. Putting people on a Board unnecessarily can harm a company,” he added.
“I don’t know why shareholders would take that risk, especially given the significant progress the company has made since Bob came back.”
DIS shares rose 1.2% on Wednesday.
Trian, spearheaded by Nelson Peltz, initiated a proxy fight against Disney, urging shareholders to nominate him and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to the board at the company’s annual general meeting in April.
Earlier in the month, Petlz highlighted his demands for a restructuring of leadership and a revamp of Disney’s traditional TV channels, which he views as a declining business. The activist investor’s goal is to achieve “Netflix-like margins” of 15% to 20% over the following 3 years.
Iger, on the other hand, has been focused on streamlining operations and reducing expenditures across the company to improve the profitability of its Disney+ streaming service. As part of this restructuring effort, Disney has announced several layoffs, impacting thousands of employees.
In February, the media conglomerate exceeded expectations with its quarterly earnings report, showing a reduction in losses from its streaming services and positive future guidance as it managed to successfully reduce costs.
However, these results did not meet Peltz’s expectations.