Ike Perlmutter reportedly dumps entire Disney stake after proxy loss, expects stock to keep plunging
Ike Perlmutter, one of Disney’s largest independent shareholders, reportedly dumped his entire stake in the media giant after losing a bruising proxy fight against Mouse House CEO Bob Iger — saying he expects the slumping stock to keep tanking.
The former Marvel chair Disney claimed he doesn’t have confidence in the company’s current management after selling off 25.6 million shares in the months after April’s vote, according to a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday, which cited communications with the former exec’s investment adviser.
The stock is down 26% since April 2 — when it closed at a 52-week high of $122.82 ahead of the shareholder vote.
It was down more than 3%, to $91.22, in midday trading Tuesday.
Perlmutter said he sold his stake between early April and mid-July at an average price of just under $115.
He expects the share price to continue to plunge, he told the Journal, and would jump in to buy back his stake if Disney’s shares decline to $65 to $75 per share.
Disney did not comment.
Perlmutter’s move comes after he gave control of his voting shares to activist investor Nelson Peltz in an ill-fated campaign to secure two seats on Disney’s board of directors.
However, shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of Disney’s slate of directors, giving a vote of confidence to Iger and his management team — and handing Petlz and Perlmutter a crushing defeat.
Perlmutter amassed much of his Disney stock after the company purchased Marvel — home to blockbusters like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Black Panther” and “The Avengers” — in 2009 for over $4 billion.
At the time, Disney shares traded at $26.84.
