Investor Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Partners bought $800 million worth of stock in The Walt Disney Co., said the company should buy the stake in Hulu it doesn’t already own from Comcast.
Peltz is seeking a board seat and generally wants to see Disney cut costs.
But in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Peltz said Disney has to buy Hulu “or they have to get out of the streaming business.”
“Unfortunately, that means this company is going to have a debt load going forward for several years,“ he acknowledged. “So that cash has got to come from somewhere.”
On Wednesday, Disney said it was urging shareholders to reject Peltz’s candidacy for a board seat and to vote down bylaw changes proposed by Trian.
Petlz met with Disney executives and said they offered him an opportunity to be a board observer, but not a voting position as a director. “They want to hear what I’ve got to say, but they don’t want me voting on governance,” he said.
Last year, former Disney CEO Bob Iger returned to the company, replacing his handpicked successor Bob Chapek. Iger has made cutting costs among his priorities at the company.
The company also said that chairman Susan Arnold will be stepping down, replaced by Nike chairman Mark Parker. Peltz criticized Parker for voting for Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox and for supporting a bid for Sky.
Peltz said Disney lost $50 billion in Fox. “It took the dividend away” and left the company’s balance sheet “a mess,” he said. ■
