Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold his entire stake in Disney, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Peltz sold his position at a price of about $120 per share, generating a return of about $1 billion, the source said.
The development, first reported by CNBC, comes after Disney successfully fended off Peltz in his quest to secure board seats at the company, officially ending a highly contentious proxy battle that plagued the entertainment giant for months.
Peltz had fought to secure board seats for himself and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo, but was ultimately unsuccessful. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting in early April, Disney said the current board would remain intact after a shareholder vote that gave the company’s slate a win “by a significant margin.”
Disney did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finance’s request for comment.
Peltz’s hedge fund, Trian Fund Management, had owned $3 billion of Disney common stock (including the stock of former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter). The activist repeated an attempt to shake up Disney’s board last year when its stock price hit multi-year lows.
At the time of the shareholder meeting, Peltz said prior to the results announcement that regardless of the outcome of the vote, Trian would keep an eye on the company’s performance.
“The long-term track record still remains disappointing,” he said at the time.
Disney shares are up about 12% since the start of the year, but are down about 15% since the company defeated Peltz in its proxy battle.
Alexandra Canal is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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