Ousted Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter to retain Disney shares

(Reuters) – Marvel Entertainment’s former chairman Ike Perlmutter on Wednesday said he will hold on to his Disney shares, a week after reports of his termination from the role.

Reuters reported last Wednesday that Disney had laid off Perlmutter, 80, as part of a cost-cutting campaign.

Perlmutter, however, told the Wall Street Journal that he was fired for pushing Disney too aggressively to cut costs and running afoul of the creative executives whom newly returned CEO Robert Iger wanted to empower. 

Disney did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

News of Perlmutter’s termination had come after he supported activist shareholder Nelson Peltz’s unsuccessful bid to obtain a seat on Disney’s corporate board.

“Trian CEO Nelson Peltz has a long history of improving shareholder returns at many leading consumer businesses,” Perlmutter said in a public statement on Wednesday.

Disney, as a part of its restructuring process, had addressed some of the criticism from Trian Fund Management’s chief Peltz that the Mouse House was overspending on streaming.

“It is that approach to Disney’s operations that has formed my support for Trian, in seeking to restore the dividend, fix the company’s inflated cost structure, and ensure a successful CEO succession,” Perlmutter said.

According to the WSJ report from earlier in the day, he owns about 30 million shares of Disney, worth about $3 billion.

(Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)