Disney Picks Nike’s Mark Parker to Lead Its Board

Disney has chosen former Nike CEO Mark Parker to chair its board.

Parker, who is now executive chairman at Nike, will become chairman of the Disney board of directors following its annual shareholder meeting, the company said in a Wednesday (Jan. 11) press release.

Parker, who has been a member of the board for seven years, succeeds Susan E. Arnold, who is not standing for re-election as she is term-limited by company policy. As a result, the size of the board will shrink to 11 members, according to the release.

Parker’s appointment comes during a tumultuous time for Disney, which last year replaced CEO Bob Chapek with former CEO Robert Iger. This week also saw activist investor and Trian Partners founder Nelson Peltz pushing for a seat on Disney’s board, setting up a proxy fight, per multiple media accounts.

The board said Wednesday it does not endorse Peltz’s nomination and recommended shareholders not back his attempt to join the board.

Peltz, meanwhile, has launched a site called “Restore the Magic” in support of his campaign.

“Trian believes that Disney is a company in crisis and faces many challenges that weigh on the company’s investment prospects,” the site stated. “We believe that these challenges are primarily self-inflicted and need to be addressed.”

Among the problems Peltz listed are “over-the-top” compensation, poor direct-to-consumer strategy, the use of Disney’s parks to subsidize streaming losses and “questionable” judgment on deals such as the company’s acquisition of Fox.

Disney reported $1.5 billion in quarterly losses for its streaming service in November. That side of the business has lost $8 billion in three years. That $1.5 billion was up from $630 million in losses in 2021’s third quarter.

Meanwhile, direct-to-consumer (D2C) revenues for the quarter increased 8% to $4.9 billion, lagging the 20% increase in Disney+ paid subscribers by 20% in the United States and Canada.

Disney said last year it would likely lay off employees as part of a cost-trimming project. A memo from Chapek provided to PYMNTS said the company would also restrict all but essential work trips and freeze most new hires in addition to the job cuts.

The memo said a task force will examine content, administrative and marketing spending throughout the company and suggest cuts, adding that Disney senior management does “anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review.”

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