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☆ NY Philharmonic lures LA's star conductor Gustavo Dudamel
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The New York Philharmonic said on Tuesday that renowned Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel will become the orchestra's music and artistic director beginning in 2026, dealing a blow to the music world of Los Angeles. Known for his kinetic energy and bouncing curly hair, Dudamel has led the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009. He was hired by Deborah Borda, who is now the president of the New York Philharmonic. "I am grateful to the musicians and leadership of the New York Philharmonic as we embark upon this new and beautiful journey together," Dudamel said on Tuesday. At the NY Phil, he will succeed Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden.

☆ Activist Investor Nelson Peltz Steps Up Pressure on Disney Board
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Robbie Whelan | Theo Francis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Activist investor Nelson Peltz escalated his criticism of the Walt Disney Co.’s board and advocated for the removal of director Michael B.G. Froman , blaming him for backing governance and compensation decisions that Mr. Peltz says have harmed the company. Disney said Thursday that it didn’t support Mr. Peltz or his son, Matthew, named as an alternate nominee for Mr. Peltz, joining its board. “Neither Mr. Peltz nor his son offer skills or experience additive to the Disney board that replace the decadeslong experience of Mr. Froman,” Disney said. Mr. Froman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

☆ Peltz's Trian seeks to rally Disney shareholders against board director Froman
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Fred ProuserNEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Activist investor Nelson Peltz's hedge fund Trian Fund Management wrote to Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) shareholders on Thursday to make the case for replacing the media and entertainment conglomerate's board director Michael Froman. Trian, which owns a roughly $1 billion stake in the home of Mickey Mouse, has asked Disney shareholders to drop Froman — a former U.S. Trade Representative — from the company's 12-member board and elect Peltz instead. Trian did not spell out in the letter why it had picked Froman to target among the Disney directors, but suggested that Peltz was more qualified to serve. In the letter, Trian also directed its criticism at the full Disney board, blaming it for a 44% drop in Disney's stock last year. A shareholder vote to decide on the composition of Disney's board has not yet been set but is expected in the spring.

LOS ANGELES, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno on Monday said he was no longer interested in selling the team he has owned for 20 years after announcing in August that he was looking for buyers. "This offseason we committed to a franchise record player payroll and still want to accomplish our goal of bringing a World Series Championship back to our fans. The Angels won their lone World Series in 2002, shortly before Moreno purchased it, and the team has struggled in recent years with its last postseason appearance coming in 2014. "Despite strong buyer interest in the Angels, Arte Moreno's love of the game is most important to him," Manfred said. Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Box office haul for 'Avatar: The Way of Water' tops $2 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Director James Cameron arrives at the world premiere of 'Avatar: The Way of Water' in London, Britain December 6, 2022. "The Way of Water" debuted in late December, 13 years after the original "Avatar" introduced the lush world of Pandora and became a worldwide phenomenon. Box office sales for "The Way of Water" totaled $2.024 billion on Sunday, according to Disney estimates. Roughly $1.4 billion of ticket sales have come from international markets outside the United States and Canada. A third "Avatar" movie, which Cameron has already filmed, is scheduled to debut in December 2024.

☆ Apple is looking for a top sales executive to spearhead a giant advertising push in sports and streaming. Here are 16 execs who could score the job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Netflix also conducted a search before hiring two Snap executives, Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor, to lead its new ads business. XandrLesser, a longtime digital ad executive, has extensive experience working on issues around the future of digital marketing. McDonald has a ton of other digital ad sales and publishing experience. She helped launch Modi Media, ad buying giant GroupM's addressable TV business, before joining TV adtech startup Cadent. UnivisionValentino runs Disney's digital ad business as EVP, client and brand solutions.

☆ Activist Investor Nelson Peltz to Disney’s New Board Chair: No Thanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Robbie Whelan | Lauren Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Activist investor Nelson Peltz doesn’t think the Walt Disney Co.’s board leadership change will shift the direction of the company, saying the new chairman is little more than a rubber stamp for newly returned CEO Bob Iger , according to people familiar with the matter. On Thursday, Mr. Peltz and his hedge fund Trian Fund Management LP turned up the heat in their proxy battle, despite board changes the Walt Disney Co. made Wednesday in an effort to counter his push. Disney on Wednesday replaced its board chair Susan Arnold with Nike Inc. chairman Mark Parker , and assured investors that he would lead the search for the company’s next chief executive.

☆ Disney Tax District Shores Up Development Plans Amid Florida Tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Robbie Whelan | Arian Campo-Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Florida legislature in April passed a law eliminating the Reedy Creek district, which has permitted Disney to manage its theme parks and resorts in Florida with little red tape. City officials from the special tax district in Florida controlled by the Walt Disney Co. moved to make changes that would allow Disney to build new theme parks and additional hotel rooms at Walt Disney World, steps that come as the state is trying to rein in the company. At a meeting Wednesday officials from the two cities that make up the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, Fla., approved a resolution to consider changing land-use regulations to accommodate the district’s comprehensive plan, which serves as a 10-year road map for development at Walt Disney World, according to minutes of the meeting and a spokeswoman for Reedy Creek.

☆ Disney board exposed itself to activist intervention, but Peltz may be overreaching
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Disney's share price spike in 2021 was caused by the same phenomenon — investors charging into streaming services with significant subscriber growth. Activist investor Nelson Peltz spent about 30 minutes Thursday morning speaking with CNBC's Jim Cramer and David Faber in a wide-ranging interview about why he wants a Disney board seat. Now Iger's back, and the Disney board has tasked him with finding a successor in the next two years. It's a far easier case to be made that Disney's board and Iger have consistently bungled succession planning. As Trian noted in its presentation (on Slide 28), the Disney board extended Iger's retirement date five different times between October 2011 and December 2017.

☆ 3 reasons why Nike's ex-CEO is what Disney needs right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At Nike, Parker engineered the company's direct-to-consumer push. During his 14 years as Nike CEO, the company's revenue nearly tripled. In 2017, as Nike CEO, Parker introduced the Consumer Direct Offense, an aggressive direct-sales push that's been a winner with Wall Street, although frustrating some on Main Street. While he was Nike CEO, Parker frequently used the phrase "always on the offense" to describe the company's aggressive approach to growing sales and market share. The company's stock climbed more than 760% during his CEO tenure, far exceeding the market.

☆ Disney names Nike executive Mark Parker as new chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The Walt Disney Company has named Nike executive chairman Mark Parker as its new board chair, replacing longtime director Susan Arnold, whose term limit is expiring. Parker, a Disney board member since 2016, takes over Disney’s board at a time of transition for America’s largest media company. Disney said among Parker’s qualifications as board chair is that he navigated a successful CEO transition at Nike. And Disney’s media networks are struggling as cord cutting accelerates and once lucrative outlets like ESPN lose viewership. She praised Parker for helping lead Disney through a difficult period for the company and the broader media industry.

☆ Disney and activist investor Nelson Peltz gear up for a proxy fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday afternoon said it opposes activist investor Nelson Peltz's attempt to join its board. Peltz's Trian Fund Management confirmed later it had nominated Peltz to Disney's board. Disney, Peltz said, had "lost its way resulting in a rapid deterioration in its financial performance." Trian wants to make operational improvements and reduce costs, according to the firm's announcement Wednesday. "Trian's objective is to create sustainable, long-term value at Disney by working WITH Bob Iger and the Disney Board," the firm said.

☆ Disney names former Nike CEO Mark Parker as its next chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former Nike CEO Mark Parker will become chairman of The Walt Disney Co. on March 9. Parker remains executive chairman of Nike, where he was CEO from 2006 to 2020. Parker, who's been on Disney's board for seven years, also serves as executive chairman of Nike. The move comes less than two months after Bob Iger returned as Disney's CEO. Parker served as CEO of Nike from 2006 t0 2020, a period of enormous growth for the sportswear brand.

At the toy manufacturer Mattel Inc., Disney ‘s princesses aren’t damsels in distress. They are saving the day. Nearly a decade after losing the Walt Disney Co.’s princess doll license to rival Hasbro Inc., Mattel is back to making and selling the doll versions of some of Disney’s iconic characters.

Ron DeSantis will seek to bring Disney's special governing district under direct state control in a bid to end the entertainment giant's multi-decade arrangement with the Sunshine State. In a document posted to the website of Osceola County, which also borders Orange County and Reedy Creek, notice was given that the proposed legislation would leave no current aspect of Reedy Creek untouched. Florida legislators already voted in a special session last year to dissolve all special districts like Reedy Creek in Florida by June 2023. In response, DeSantis and his allies in the Florida legislature announced they would seek to end the privileges Disney had enjoyed through the special district. “The state of Florida has been very important to us for a long time, and we have been very important to the state of Florida,” Iger said last month.

☆ Barbara Walters, pioneering TV journalist who began on ‘TODAY,’ dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Ethan Sacks | Ethan Sacks Writes For Nbcnews.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV broadcaster who blazed a trail for women in a male-dominated medium, died Friday. “Barbara Walters proved to be the evolutionary step between Edward R. Murrow and Oprah Winfrey.”Barbara Walters interviews Ronald Reagan in 1980 for ABC News. NBCMcGee, who died shortly after being partnered with Walters, demanded that he ask three questions to every one of Walter’s in studio interviews. So, Walters started fielding interviews outside the studio, quickly building a reputation as an incisive and probing questioner. After nearly 60 years in journalism, Walters announced she was retiring in 2014.

☆ A family who was headed to Tokyo to visit Disney and celebrate their son's 21st birthday is 'devastated' and out $7,000 after Southwest cancelled their flight
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But after Southwest cancelled their flight from Tuscon to LAX, they missed their flight to Tokyo. They were going to visit Tokyo Disney and the Pokemon Cafe in Tokyo, take a train to Kyoto and go sightseeing at historic temples. But Tokyo Disney, which is not owned by The Walt Disney Company, generally does not issue refunds. Tokyo Disney, which is owned by The Oriental Land Company, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Walt Disney Company, which licenses intellectual property to Tokyo Disney, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Pioneering U.S. television journalist Barbara Walters dead at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Television personality Barbara Walters arrives for the premiere of the film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" in New York September 20, 2010. "I asked Yeltsin if he drank too much, and I asked Putin if he killed anybody," Walters told the New York Times in 2013. "These two men were really quite brutal to me and it was not pleasant," Walters told the San Francisco Examiner. The New York Times called her "arguably America's best-known television personality" but also observed that "what we remember most about a Barbara Walters interview is Barbara Walters." Walters' three marriages - to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson - ended in divorce.

☆ Inside the Disney drama as CEO Bob Iger returns, replacing protege Bob Chapek
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Bob Iger returned to Disney as CEO in November, ending Bob Chapek's rocky tenure. In one of the most dramatic reversals in corporate history, the Walt Disney Co. board reinstated Bob Iger as CEO in November, ousting his predecessor Bob Chapek. Disney had just reported a $1.5 billion loss in its streaming business on a November 8 earnings call. Wall Street faulted him for waiting until after the 3Q earnings call to announce that layoffs were planned, for example. Read more about what Disney, Hollywood, and Iger expect from Iger:

"The production companies and producers ignored harassment on set, failed to act despite multiple complaints, and fired crew members for complaining about the harassment," the release added. The state civil rights department went on to investigate the claims. "Criminal Minds" ran for 15 seasons on CBS before moving over to the Paramount+ streaming service last month under the new title "Criminal Minds: Evolution." The popular series has spawned two short-lived CBS spinoff shows, "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior" and "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders." In the summer of 2016, former "Criminal Minds" star Thomas Gibson was fired from the program days after he was suspended for a reported altercation with a producer during filming.

☆ Morningstar shares 2 trades they say will deliver 7% yearly returns over the next decade, even after accounting for inflation — and breaks down why the 60/40 portfolio strategy is starting to look att
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But the sell-offs have put both asset classes in a better position to succeed for the long-term, Straehl said in a recent note. While communication services stocks have largely sold off this year, the sector is now the most attractive in the market, Straehl said. The Vanguard Communication Services ETF (VOX) provides exposure to the communications services sector. The second trade Straehl said will deliver 7% real returns over the next 10 years is emerging market stocks. The stocks are in a more favorable place valuation-wise than developed market stocks, Straehl said.

☆ 12 media executives anonymously predict 2023's biggest deals, trends and changes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Candle Media has acquired intellectual property assets including Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company and Moonbug, which owns the animated kids series "CoComelon." Executive 3: Iger extends his contract There's been lots of speculation over who Iger will choose as his successor. History suggests he has a hard time leaving the role of Disney CEO. Christine M. McCarthy, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer The Walt Disney Company. "I love Shari [Redstone], but ViacomCBS is not long for this world as it stands today," said a media executive last year.

☆ Tubi CEO Farhad Massoudi on how FAST streamers superserve audiences and why Netflix and Disney+ have made the 'desperate' move to launch ad-supported tiers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tubi CEO Farhad Massoudi, who is featured on Insider's list of 100 People Transforming Business, is bullish about the FAST player's future. "We're competing with irrational players," Massoudi said of big-spending subscription streamers. With over 51 million monthly active users, mostly in the US, Fox-owned Tubi is beating all of its internal projections, Massoudi told Insider. "It's one thing to license that massive library," Massoudi told Insider in an October interview. "The truth is, most of these streaming services are not and were never a viable business," asserts Massoudi.

☆ Cramer picks favorite down-and-out stock for 2023 and calls a bottom on another name
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Matthew J. Belvedere | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But Jim Cramer said during the Club's December "Monthly Meeting" on Thursday that he has hope for both of them. Disney (DIS), Jim said, might just be his favorite down-and-out stock for 2023. Bob Iger is back as Disney CEO. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ From Disney to Target to Boeing, retirement is a thing of the past for CEOs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

SUN VALLEY, ID - JULY 13: (L-R) Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, Dick Costolo, former chief executive officer of Twitter, Lachlan Murdoch, co-chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox, Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google, and Randall Stephenson, chief executive officer of AT&T, mingle during the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 13, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. The average tenure for departing CEOs during that same time period was about 11 years, up from nine years in 2020. That's not surprising, because of the impact of the pandemic and [other] crises, where boards put CEO succession on hold," Anterasian said. "In our research, boards put CEO succession on hold during crises," Anterasian said. At Disney, Iger has said he will only stay on for two years before a successor takes over.

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