The Walt Disney Company has fired Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac Perlmutter, citing cost-cutting measures as part of layoffs affecting 7,000 employees.
Perlmutter, 80, has long feuded with Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger and repeatedly backed activist investor Nelson Peltz’s failed bid to join the company’s board as part of a drive to cut costs.
Perlmutter was informed in a phone call Wednesday that Marvel Entertainment, a small consumer products division run separately from the giant Marvel Studios, would be merged with other business units, sources told The New York Times. New York Times.
Disney did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com inquiry and Perlmutter could not immediately be reached for comment.
On Monday, Disney began cutting 7,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its workforce, as Iger works to cut about $5.5 billion in costs and boost the company’s financial results.
The Walt Disney Company has fired Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac Perlmutter (above in 2017), citing cost-cutting moves
Disney CEO Bob Iger (above) announced a major restructuring and cost cuts last month after falling out with major Disney shareholders Nelson Peltz and Isaac Perlmutter.
The announcement followed a proxy war that turned the iconic company upside down, with major Disney shareholders Peltz and Perlmutter accusing Iger of ruining the company by spending too much money.
Perlmutter, who ran the Marvel franchise for more than a decade until he was forced to step down in 2015, has called for Peltz to be added to the board half a dozen times, according to a letter from Disney shareholders.
Perlmutter has been pressing the issue since July 2022, contacting former CEO Bob Chapek, director Safra Catz, and other senior executives on Peltz’s behalf.
Peltz finally withdrew from the proxy battle after Iger last month announced a major restructuring designed to cut billions in costs, the CEO’s biggest move since he returned to the helm and replaced Chapek last year.
Perlmutter has a long-standing reputation as a tightwad and has used his influence over the years to try to slash the company’s expenses.
He was the CEO of Marvel Entertainment prior to Disney’s 2009 acquisition of the franchise, and helped negotiate the acquisition, in which he reportedly received $800 million in cash and a massive grant of Disney stock.
Perlmutter oversaw the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until he was sidelined by Iger in a 2015 reorganization, in which Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige began reporting directly to the chairman of Walt Disney Studios.
Notoriously averse to the press, Perlmutter has never given an interview to the media in his long career and has only been photographed a few times.
Investor Nelson Peltz finally backed out of the proxy battle after Iger last month announced a major restructuring designed to cut billions in costs.
Nelson Peltz (left) with his daughter Nicola Peltz (right). Peltz ended his proxy offer against Disney after the company agreed to billions of dollars in cost-cutting measures.
Iger’s move to publicly oust Perlmutter from his role as Marvel Studios supervisor in 2015 led to a behind-the-scenes war between billionaires, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Speaking last month about his decision to sideline Perlmutter, Iger told CNBC: “I wasn’t happy about it. And I believe that unhappiness exists today.
Perlmutter had planned to help get Peltz onto the Disney board, where he could use his role to later squeeze the company’s budget.
But the plot was called off after Iger announced he would resign in two years and cut the company’s workforce, joining a growing number of companies in cutting thousands of jobs in recent months.
A person close to Perlmutter told the Wall Street Journal: ‘To him, overspending is like cancer. If it is not constantly monitored, it grows.
‘This whole fight was not, in Ike’s mind, about changing Disney’s board of directors. It was mainly about changing his attitude,” he added.
This frugal attitude caused Perlmutter to repeatedly clash with Iger over Disney’s spending, including discussions about his 2008 Iron Man movie, which launched the MCU.
The executive was said to have been so angered by the film’s inflated budget that he demanded that an action sequence featuring ten Humvees be filmed with only three.
After Iger fired Perlmutter as Marvel CEO, the billionaire conspired with Peltz to overhaul the board and remove Iger from power.
The proxy war saw the billionaire support a campaign to get Peltz into a position of influence so he could make meaningful changes.
In January, Peltz’s firm, Trian Fund Management LP, said it owned about 9.4 million shares valued at about $900 million, which it had accumulated several months earlier.
Peltz had previously taken a critical stance against Disney’s $71 billion acquisition of Fox in 2019, as well as its failed succession planning that resulted in the firing of Bob Chapek and Iger’s second reign.
The grudge saw him join forces with ousted boss Perlmutter to gain control of the company’s board of directors.
When the dispute became public, Iger responded by stating that the investor, worth approximately $1.4 billion, “has not articulated a vision, or even ideas, that are of particular value to us.”
Perlmutter was said to have been so angered by Iron Man’s inflated budget that he demanded that an action sequence featuring ten Humvees be filmed with only three. Pictured: Robert Downey Jr in the 2008 film that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Following the restructuring announcement, Trian praised Iger’s cost-cutting moves, with Peltz’s company saying the move was “a win for all shareholders” and the decision “broadly aligns with our thinking.”
Peltz’s victory lap also saw him appear on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” last month, where he said that Disney now “plans to do everything we wanted them to do.”
‘We wish Bob the best [Iger], this management team and the board of directors. We’ll be watching. We’ll be cheering,” the 80-year-old said.
Now leaving his job in two years, Iger has said he plans to use the time he has left to get the company profitable again by 2024.