Elon Musk said Wednesday he would buy Disney (DIS) shares should activist investor Nelson Peltz manage to get a seat on the media and entertainment giant’s board.
“Nelson Peltz should definitely be on the Disney board! He would help reform the company, improve the quality of product and generally serve in the best interests of shareholders, as he has done at many other companies,” Musk said on X.
“This would significantly improve Disney’s share price,” he added.
Musk’s words were in response to American hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s X post, who voiced his concerns over alleged leaks to the media about Disney winning its proxy contest against Nelson Peltz, suggesting such actions are inappropriate and could unfairly influence the voting outcome.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Disney has garnered sufficient shareholder support to overcome a board challenge posed by Peltz’s Trian Fund Management.
The vote count reportedly shows that Disney's board members have secured a comfortable lead over the nominees put forward by Trian, including Peltz himself and Jay Rasulo, a former chief financial officer at Disney.
In response to these rumors, Ackman argued that leaking early election returns can manipulate shareholder behavior to favor the incumbent board, potentially at the expense of shareholder governance and justice.
He urged DIS shareholders to vote for Peltz’s election to the board.
“Based on my knowledge of Nelson's capabilities and the dirty tricks implemented by the company and its advisors, I strongly recommend that shareholders vote for Nelson Peltz for the Disney board,” Ackman said.
Should that happen, it would make Disney stock more appealing for Musk to invest in, the Tesla CEO noted.
“While I don’t own any Disney shares today, I would definitely buy their shares if Nelson were elected to the board. His track record is excellent,” the billionaire wrote.