WOKE DISNEY KILLER Billionaire Forcing Disney Change? Marvel To Use Chris Evans To Fight Patriotism?

1 year ago
179

Dan Loeb put $1 Billion into Disney to change how it operates and TURN IT AROUND. He did not mention their woke agenda, but he knows it well. He knows woke characters DO NOT SELL. He's invested in Disney before, and forced the CEO to leave Yahoo. He will get things done!

SUBSCRIBE TO ADAM POST SPEAKS:
https://www.youtube.com/c/AdamPostSpeaks

Follow ADAM POST on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/comicswelove

David Zaslav, WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUPkiRW84R1gxDL-u2P1Ac4bE5bONlHix

A Woke Mouse Trap: Activist targets Disney
https://nypost.com/2022/08/20/disneys-wokeness-only-allows-for-activist-investors-to-take-control/

What’s the Right Talent Mix for Disney’s Board?
https://archive.ph/Bn5ju

Disney’s New Pricing Magic: More Profit From Fewer Park Visitors
https://archive.ph/fVfzO

Rumor: Marvel To Bring Back Chris Evans As Captain America In Order To Distance Character From His “Uncomfortable Patriotism Facets”
https://boundingintocomics.com/2022/08/30/rumor-marvel-to-bring-back-chris-evans-as-captain-america-in-order-to-distance-character-from-his-uncomfortable-patriotism-facets/

Breaking Down Disney's Acquisition of Marvel
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/3290-breaking-down-disney-s-acquisition-of-marvel.html

Dan Loeb turned $3 million into a $17.5 billion hedge fund empire in 20 years — here's his fabulous life
https://www.businessinsider.com/fabulous-life-of-dan-loeb-2015-6

Of course, activist investors like Loeb aren’t in the business of playing nice. And Loeb is particularly adept at his job — just see the havoc he caused at Yahoo a few years back on the way to a big payday. With his Disney move, he again wants to force change and enhance shareholder value, which has been noticeably missing from the company recently. The stock is down more than 23% year-to-date and more than 30% in the past 52 weeks.

Cable cord cutting is eating into Disney’s linear businesses, including its still-profitable sports cable network ESPN. The Disney+ streaming service is growing, but still losing money. ESPN along with decent theme-park attendance is why the company posted strong third-quarter results. Disney is betting big on streaming but it may not be the magic bullet many industry pros hoped for, or Netflix wouldn’t be missing performance targets.

Then there are the unstated reasons Disney is in trouble, the one that industry executives, investors and rivals will tell you when they’re not being quoted by name: Woke don’t sell, particularly when it comes to a company trying to sell kid-oriented programming and theme-park experiences to Middle America.

In his letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Loeb didn’t say any of this. (He also declined to comment for this column.) His letter stated explicitly he wants an outright sale of ESPN to pay down debt and allow ESPN to make up for the cord cutting and fully flourish in the sports gambling business, which doesn’t fit with Disney’s family-forward image. He’d like to totally suspend the dividend and buy from rival Comcast the remaining 33% stake of the Hulu streaming service it doesn’t own.

Disney is beginning to learn that woke does not sell.
Being woke could hurt Disney’s sales, especially with Middle America.
Getty Images
A growth albatross
But Loeb, in my opinion, also more than hinted at wokeness being a growth albatross for the “House of Mouse.” He wants more experienced board members to fill “gaps in talent and experience” that he described as “strengths in technology, advertising and consumer engagement, as well as proven track records of leading large, complex organizations and creating shareholder value.”

So I did a little digging through the company’s 2022 proxy statement — a type of annual report that investors, including presumably Loeb, pore through to understand management’s priorities, strategic direction, shareholder votes and what it looks for in its board members — the men and women whom management must report to.

You would be amazed how Disney — a company known for, among other things, Mickey Mouse and making movies that are supposed to appeal to the so-called silent majority — is openly bragging to investors about its embrace of ­every woke fad imaginable.

The terms “diversity” and “ESG,” the acronym for Environmental, Social and Governance, appear on nearly every page. Management diversity is a worthy goal, but real academic research on diversity and shareholder value shows no correlation.

This follows Disney speaking out against DeSantis' anti-LGBT legislation.
Florida passed legislation that took away Disney’s special tax status earlier in 2022.
Getty Images
The proxy says management has created various initiatives to increase the diversity (aka wokeness) of Disney’s programming. Where’s the research that those programs sell? I couldn’t find any.

Loading comments...