Actors dressed as Walt Disney characters Mickey Mouse (left) and Minnie Mouse (right) perform during a press preview for the “Minnie Besties Bash!” parade at Tokyo Disneyland on January 17, 2023 in Urayasu, Japan.
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
The bottom line
Disney’s showdown with activist investors should see some kind of a resolution after its annual general meeting with shareholders on Wednesday.
Disney’s leaders probably need one. The outcome could well influence the identity of any new chief executive who eventually succeeds Bob Iger.
Trian Partners’ Nelson Peltz is not just taking issue with Disney’s streaming performance, he also wants a board seat.
Peltz has argued he should help lead a successor search — particularly after Iger returned as CEO in 2022 after his successor Bob Chapek was fired. Before that, Iger had also pushed back his retirement five times.
CNBC reported in September that Iger plans to name a successor and then coach that person before leaving the role toward the end of 2026.
Several executives have speculated that Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, is the favorite. Still, she faces stiff competition and doubts about whether she would be able to withstand scrutiny.
She is the only woman though, in an internal field that’s said to include Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and Alan Bergman, who is Entertainment co-chair with Walden.
Activist investors and a succession race. There are more fights than one at Mickey Mouse’s club house these days.
— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this story.