Nelson Peltz nominates former Disney CFO for board seat in proxy fight

Disney activist investor Nelson Peltz is trying once more to get a seat on Disney’s board — this time, alongside former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo. In a press release announcing its intended nominees, Peltz’s Trian Fund Management took aim at Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger’s board for being “too closely connected to a long-tenured CEO and too disconnected from shareholders’ interests.” Rasulo is a longtime Disney executive who left the company in 2015 after being passed over for the chief operating officer role, which went to Tom Staggs. “As independent voices in the boardroom, Nelson and I are confident that the combination of my decades of experience at Disney, Nelson’s significant boardroom skills and history of driving positive strategic change, and our combined consumer brands expertise and financial acumen, will be additive to the Disney Board.” Disney issued a statement Thursday saying it would “review” Trian’s proposed nominees. “The Governance and Nominating Committee, which evaluates director nominations, will review the proposed Trian nominees and provide a recommendation to the Board as part of its governance process.” Trian didn’t disclose which two board members the firm was seeking to replace, though the latest update in Peltz’s proxy fight follows the recent appointments of Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch to Disney’s board.