Correspondence 0000902664-23-006022 from TRIAN FUND MANAGEMENT, L.P. (CIK 0001345471)
TRIAN FUND MANAGEMENT, L.P. (CIK 0001345471)
Date: Dec. 26, 2023 · CIK: 0001345471 · Accession: 0000902664-23-006022
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File numbers found in text: 001-38842
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Writer's Direct Number
Writer's E-mail Address
212.756.2376
Eleazer.Klein@srz.com
December 23, 2023
VIA EDGAR AND ELECTRONIC MAIL
Daniel Duchovny
Special Counsel
Office of Mergers and Acquisitions
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20549
Re:
The Walt Disney Company
DFAN14A
Filed December 14, 2023 by Trian Fund Management, L.P., Trian Management
GP, LLC, Nelson Peltz, Peter W. May, Matthew Peltz, Josh Frank, James A. Rasulo, Trian Partners, L.P., Trian Partners Parallel Fund I,
L.P., Trian Partners Master Fund, L.P., Trian Partners Co-Investment Opportunities Fund, Ltd., Trian Partners Fund (Sub)-G, L.P., Partners
Strategic Investment Fund-N, L.P., Trian Partners Strategic Fund-G II, L.P., Trian Partners Strategic Fund-K, L.P., Isaac Perlmutter,
The Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Foundation Inc., Object Trading Corp., Isaac Perlmutter T.A. and Zib Inc.
File No. 001-38842
Dear Mr. Duchovny:
On behalf of Trian Fund
Management, L.P. and its affiliates (collectively, "Trian") and the other filing persons (together with Trian, the "Filing
Persons"), we are responding to the letter, dated December 18, 2023, from the staff (the "Staff") of the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") regarding the soliciting material under Rule 14a-12 filed
on Schedule 14A on December 14, 2023 (the "Soliciting Material") with respect to The Walt Disney Company ("Disney"
or the "Company").
We have reviewed the comments
of the Staff and respond below. For your convenience, the text of the Staff's comments is set forth below in italics, with responses on
behalf of the Filing Persons interlineated in normal type.
Soliciting Material Under Rule 14a-12
Each statement or assertion of opinion or
belief must be clearly characterized as such, and a reasonable factual basis must exist for each such opinion or belief. Support for opinions
or beliefs should be self-evident, disclosed in the proxy statement or provided to the staff on a supplemental basis. Please provide the
support described for the following disclosure:
that "...Disney has woefully underperformed its peers and its potential";
The Filing Persons believe
that the foregoing statement is supported by numerous facts, including as provided in the Soliciting Material. In particular, the Company
has consistently underperformed relative to (i) its proxy peers (as identified in the Company's 2023 Revised Definitive Proxy Statement,
filed with the Commission on Schedule 14A on February 13, 2023 (the "Company's 2023 Proxy Statement")), which consist
of Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Apple Inc., AT&T Inc., Comcast Corp., Meta Platforms, Inc., Netflix, Inc., Paramount Global and
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (collectively, "Proxy Peers") and (ii) the S&P 500. As discussed in endnote (ii) of
the Soliciting Material, the Company's total shareholder return has materially lagged behind that of its Proxy Peers and the S&P 500
as follows:1
a) In the past year, the Company has underperformed the S&P 500 by 34% and has unperformed its Proxy Peers by 44%.
b) In the last three years, the Company has underperformed the S&P 500 by 66% and has underperformed its Proxy Peers by 33%.
c) In the last five years, the Company has underperformed the S&P 500 by 89% and has underperformed its Proxy Peers by 69%.
d) In the last ten years, the Company has underperformed the S&P 500 by 168% and has underperformed its
Proxy Peers by 353%.
Further, the Filing
Persons note that, in the most recent fiscal year, the Company's earnings per share were lower than the earnings per share generated
by Disney a decade ago despite investing over $100 billion of capital in its businesses. Disney earnings per share in the last
fiscal year were 50% lower than the Company's historical earnings per share peak,2 evidencing Disney's failure
to perform to its potential.
that "[m]argins in both Disney's Direct-to-Consumer business and its consolidated
media operations significantly lag peers"; and,
The Filing Persons believe that
the foregoing statement is supported by comparing the Company's financial performance with that of its most comparable industry peers
– Netflix, Inc. and Warner Brothers Discovery, Inc. For its Direct-to-Consumer business, the Company had -12% EBITDA margins over
the last twelve months on a consolidated basis, compared to -5% for Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.'s Direct-to-Consumer segment and 19%
for Netflix Inc.'s pure-play Direct-to-Consumer business. The Company's Entertainment and Sports segments, which control the Company's
consolidated media operations, had 6% EBITDA margins in fiscal year 2023, compared to Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.'s
23% EBITDA margins as of Q3 2023 and Netflix, Inc.'s 19% EBITDA margins as of Q3 2023.3
__________________________________
1
FactSet.
2 Commission filings. Earnings per
share as referenced in this paragraph refers to earnings per share "excluding certain items" as reported by Disney in Commission
filings.
3 Commission filings, FactSet.
2
that "[t]he Board, we believe, lacks objectivity as well as focus, alignment,
and accountability."
The Filing Persons
note the Staff's comment and respectfully advise the Staff that they believe that a reasonable factual basis exists for the
above-referenced statement.
The Filing Persons believe
that the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") lacks objectivity because of its apparent loyalty to Robert
Iger ("Mr. Iger"), the Company's Chief Executive Officer, as described herein.
Several of the incumbent
directors approved a generous compensation package for Mr. Iger that would have allowed him to earn up to $423 million over four years.4
Although Mr. Iger's compensation package was reduced after 52.2% of shareholders casting votes rejected the Company's 2017
advisory "say-on-pay" proposal,5 he nonetheless received $216 million during the period spanning fiscal years
2017 to 2021,6 despite the Company's poor performance outlined above and in the Soliciting Material. Further, the Board extended
Mr. Iger's agreed-upon retirement date as Chief Executive Officer on five occasions from October 2011 to December 2017, and, in addition,
recently approved an extension of his current contract through December 31, 2026.7 Again, these extensions were granted in
the face of the material underperformance described herein. Media reports that "[Bob] Iger had personally selected every member of the Board" and is "personally
close with several of them, including Nike Executive Chairman Mark Parker and General Motors CEO Mary Barra" (who are each members
of Disney's Compensation Committee) further substantiates the Filing Persons' beliefs regarding the Board's apparent loyalty to Mr. Iger.8
In addition to the events
described above regarding the Board's approval of Mr. Iger's compensation package and multiple extensions of his service as Chief Executive
Officer, the Board abruptly fired Robert Chapek ("Mr. Chapek") in November 2022, not even three years after he succeeded
Mr. Iger as Chief Executive Officer in February 20209 The Board ostensibly had no plans for succession when firing Mr. Chapek,
as it reportedly reached out to Mr. Iger about a week before announcing his re-hiring as Chief Executive Officer.10 Mr. Chapek's
original appointment as Chief Executive Officer was also questionable in light of the Company's stated focus on its streaming business,
given his lack of experience in that industry, and reflects, the Filing Persons believe, the Board's inability to properly focus on and
execute on a clear strategic plan.
__________________________________
4 After pay vote, Disney investors question Iger's rich
deal, Reuters (March 16, 2018).
5 The Company's Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Commission on
March 9, 2018.
6 Compensation Tables provided in the Company's proxy
statements, filed with the Commission on Schedule 14A on (i) January 25, 2021, (ii) January 19, 2022 and (iii) February 13, 2023.
7 Exhibits 10.3–10.7 and 10.12 to the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Commission on November 21, 2023.
8 Disney's wildest ride: Iger, Chapek and the
making of an epic succession mess, CNBC (Sept. 6, 2023).
9 The Company's 2023 Proxy Statement.
10 Disney's wildest ride: Iger, Chapek and the making
of an epic succession mess, CNBC (Sept. 6, 2023).
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The Board's mixed
messaging regarding the length of Mr. Iger's tenure as Chief Executive Officer also exacerbates the Board's ineffective succession planning
and, thereby, the Board's lack of focus and objectivity. The Board initially appointed Mr. Iger as Chief Executive Officer for a two-year
term set to expire on December 31, 2024, announcing in January 2023 that it had established a Succession Planning Committee to advise
the Board on succession planning for the Chief Executive Officer position.11 Despite reiterating its commitment to succession
planning in February 2023 and its representation that the process of "developing and mentoring a successor CEO" was already
underway,12 the Board seemingly backtracked on this messaging in November 2023 when it announced its extension of Mr. Iger's
employment agreement to December 31, 2026. 13
The Filing Persons believe that these actions
demonstrate the Board's history of placing Mr. Iger's interests before those of the Company's shareholders and, thus, a lack of objectivity.
The Filing Persons
note that various non-management members of the Board have demanding responsibilities outside of Disney that could prevent
them from properly focusing on the Company's growth and shareholder value. In particular, given the scale of the Company's
operations and the current importance of succession planning to the Company's future success, the Filing Persons believe it is
questionable whether Mark Parker, the current Chairman of the Board, has capacity to focus on this role while simultaneously serving
as the Chairman of Nike, another S&P 500 company.14
The Filing Persons believe
that the Board lacks alignment and accountability given the non-management directors' relatively small ownership stake in the Company.
While the Company currently has a market capitalization of approximately $170 billion, such directors collectively own less than $15
million of the Company's stock. In addition, Mr. Iger sold more than $1 billion of Disney securities, which represented the vast majority
of his ownership stake.15 With a de minimis ownership interest in the Company, the majority of the Board lacks an important
financial incentive to pursue the best interests of the Company's shareholders and to maximize shareholder value. The Filing Persons
also believe that there is a lack of alignment in the Board's executive compensation practices relative to shareholder value generation—again,
the Board has approved outsized compensation packages for executives of a company that has substantially underperformed, including as
described herein. Further, since 2011, the Company's advisory "say-on-pay" proposals have received, on average, shareholder
support of only approximately 70%, compared to average support of approximately 90% for S&P 500 companies.16 Only one
other constituent S&P 500 company, Oracle Corporation, has received less "say-on-pay" support than Disney, evidencing
a stark disconnect between Board and shareholder perspectives and a lack of alignment of compensation with shareholder value creation.17
The incumbent Board members' consistent re-election, despite the Company's financial underperformance described above, gives the Board
little incentive to focus on improving the Company's capital allocation practices and operational execution, which also contributes to
the Filing Persons' beliefs that the Board lacks accountability.
* * *
__________________________________
11
The Company's Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Commission on January 11, 2023.
12
The Company's 2023 Proxy Statement.
13 The Company's Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Commission on
July 12, 2023.
14 At Walt Disney, the G in ESG
stands for goofy, Reuters (Jan. 12, 2023).
15 Commission filings and FactSet. Represents the cumulative net value of
Disney shares sold, from 2005 through 2022, based on Form 4s and Disney's 2023 annual proxy statement filed with the Commission.
16 Commission filings and Institutional Shareholder Services
("ISS") Voting Analytics database.
17 Commission filings and ISS Voting
Analytics database.
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Thank you for your attention
to this matter. Should you have any questions or comments, or require any further information with respect to the foregoing, please do
not hesitate to call me at (212) 756-2376.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Eleazer Klein
Eleazer Klein
cc: Brian Schorr
Daniel Marx
Trian Fund Management, L.P.
Marc Weingarten
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
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