Dimon Voices Support For Bob Iger Amid Proxy Fight At Disney

(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon endorsed Bob Iger, the Walt Disney Co. chief embroiled in a proxy battle with billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management. 

“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 said in a statement provided by the bank. CNBC reported his view earlier Wednesday. 

Peltz has been ramping up his attacks on Disney in recent weeks as he tries to address his concerns around strategy and performance at the company. His firm is seeking to appoint Peltz and Jay Rasulo, Disney’s former chief financial officer, to the company’s board at its annual meeting in April. Earlier this month, Trian published a 133-page manifesto for change titled where the firm advocated for an overhaul of Disney’s business strategy.  

Disney reported a loss of $216 million in its combined streaming businesses for the quarter that ended in December, a sharp improvement from the $1.05 billion loss in the same period the year before. Those results include the Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu streaming services.

“Putting people on a board unnecessarily can harm a company,” Dimon said in the statement. “I don’t know why shareholders would take that risk, especially given the significant progress the company has made since Bob came back.”

In its own statement Tuesday, Trian disputed the notion that it was seeking to disrupt the board and accused Disney of leaning on its investment bankers and other commercial partners for endorsements.

“The fact is that Disney has significantly underperformed its potential, its peers and the market during the tenures of incumbent directors,” Trian said. “This campaign should be focused not on statements of highly compensated bankers and service providers, but on how shareholders can ensure good governance and oversight from the board.”

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