Disney activist Nelson Peltz gets support from ex-Marvel exec in board seat fight

Activist investor Nelson Peltz has an ally in his battle for a board seat at Disney (DIS).

Former Marvel executive Ike Perlmutter has entrusted his stake in the company to Peltz, who recently launched a renewed attack on the media giant. Perlmutter was ousted from his position as chairman of Marvel Entertainment amid the company's mass layoffs in March and remains one of the company's biggest independent shareholders.

"As someone with a large economic interest in Disney’s success, I can no longer watch the business underachieve its great potential," Perlmutter said in a statement provided to Yahoo Finance Monday. "I urge Disney’s board to immediately welcome one or more Trian board candidates, including Trian’s CEO and Founding Partner, Nelson Peltz, into the boardroom. I believe Nelson and Trian can help Disney’s leadership better navigate the company’s challenges and opportunities."

Trian declined to comment on the development, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, while Disney did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finance's request.

Yahoo Finance confirmed earlier this month that Peltz's hedge fund Trian Fund Management had boosted its stake in Disney and that Peltz was seeking multiple board seats, including one for himself.

At the time of that revelation, Trian's stake was valued at a more than $2.5 billion for more than 30 million shares, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Peltz ended a previous proxy battle against Disney in February after the company committed to various cost-cutting initiatives, which included layoffs, in addition to restructuring the business, establishing a succession planning committee, and revealing plans to reinstate its dividend by the end of the calendar year.

Peltz had said Iger needed to execute on his plan — but, with the stock falling nearly 30% since the end of Peltz's previous proxy battle, it's clear shareholders want to see more from the entertainment giant.

The company's parks business is slowing. Its linear TV division is declining, and so are subscribers to its flagship streaming service Disney+. Its direct-to-consumer business has yet to hit profitability while the media giant also seems to have lagged competitors at the box office.

On Friday, Disney announced it would be delaying two major 2024 films amid those content challenges, coupled with the ongoing actors strike. Its live-action "Snow White" and Pixar film "Elio" have both been delayed to 2025.

"It puts a lot of pressure [on Disney]," Needham analyst Laura Martin told Yahoo Finance Live after Peltz first renewed his fight against the company.

"He owns enough that I don't even know if he needs to get board seats to actually get something done here and make money on his investment. We'll see. But worst case, you'll have an activist in the boardroom who will be much more short-term focused than anyone currently on the board," she warned.

Iger has attempted to reset the company — from putting Disney's linear assets up for sale and searching for a strategic partner for ESPN's streaming offering to partnering with sports gambling company Penn Entertainment (PENN) and potentially selling off its Star India business.

He's also raised streaming prices for the second time this year, upping the monthly price of its ad-free Disney+ and Hulu plans by more than 20%, in addition to committing $60 billion to theme park investments over the next 10 years.

But all of that doesn't seem to be enough to lift the stock price. As of Monday morning, the stock was down about 8% since the start of the year, on par with the S&P 500's year-to-date drop.

Disney will report fiscal full year and quarterly earnings results after the bell on Nov. 8.

Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.

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