George Lucas Sides With Bob Iger in Proxy Fight for Control of Disney
Star Wars creator George Lucas has opted to side with The Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger in the ongoing saga of the fight for control over Disney’s board of directors.
For a short recap – Nelson Peltz and his Trian Partners investment firm have been leading an effort for over a year to try to get elected into Disney’s board. They’ve been recruiting some investors, including former Marvel Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Ike Perlmutter, while Iger has been trying to rally support from everyone under the sun. All roads lead to the annual investor meeting on April 3, where there will be a vote on whether to include Peltz and other nominees on the board.
The Hollywood Reporter has shared the news that George Lucas issued a statement confirming his commitment to the current leadership:
“Creating magic is not for amateurs. When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my long-time admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger’s leadership. When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved. No one knows Disney better. I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob’s track record of driving long-term value. I have voted all of my shares for Disney’s 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same.”
Other prominent voices supporting Iger include the family of Walt and Roy Disney and the shareholder service firm Glass Lewis. The predominant narratives pushed by Disney have framed Nelson Peltz and his allies as dangerous for the long-term health of the company and Bob Iger to be the most stable hands guiding the company.
George Lucas has a lifelong interest in Disney, down to attending the original Disneyland park in its second day of operations. Lucas’s involvement with Disney began in 1986 with the development of the original iteration of the Star Tours ride, with the franchise’s expansion into the parks incrementally growing over time.
As part of his plans to retire from filmmaking and support the arts, Lucas sold Lucasfilm in 2012, launching a new era of the Star Wars franchise that has resulted in more live-action and animated content being developed and released in the past 12 years than the previous 39 (from 1973, when writing for the film that would become Star Wars: A New Hope began, to the year of the sale). He is one of Disney’s largest individual shareholders following the $4B sale of Lucasfilm and all the IPs tied to the company, which included $1.8B in stock (with the bulk of this fortune to supporting public schools).
This is not to say that Bob Iger and George Lucas have not had issues in the past. Iger’s autobiography A Ride of a Lifetime makes note that Lucas was disappointed that the company opted not to directly use his treatments for the story of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and that he had some reservations about the creative direction of Star Wars: The Force Awakens prioritizing a nostalgic approach after a private screening ahead of the release of the blockbuster film. Nonetheless, it appears that Lucas has opted to side with an executive who – tone-deaf comments in the middle of last year’s writer’s strike aside – has a reputation for being supportive of creatives over a new board that would reduce support for them.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
