Former Marvel Entertainment Chairman-CEO Ike Perlmutter has entrusted his Disney (DIS) shares to activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management.

Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Alexandra Canal details Perlmutter's statement on the matter and how the stock is reacting. Trian Fund Management currently holds more than $2.5 billion in Disney shares as Peltz pushes to acquire more seats on Disney's board of directors.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Video Transcript

[AUDIO LOGO] RACHELLE AKUFFO: Nelson Peltz is getting a superhero backing in his bid for Disney board seats.

Former Marvel Entertainment Executive, Ike Perlmutter, has given his stake in Disney to Peltz's Trian Fund Management.

Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal has the details.

Hey, Allie.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Hi Rachelle, and the pressure just keeps mounting for Disney, Ike Perlmutter, entrusting his stake in the company to Activist Investor, Nelson Peltz.

Now, remember, Peltz launched a renewed attack on the media giant in October after launching a proxy fight against Disney back in February.

Now, Perlmutter was ousted as Chairman of Marvel Entertainment amid the company's mass layoffs in March but he does remain one of the company's biggest independent shareholders.

In a statement from Perlmutter provided to Yahoo Finance, he said, quote, "As someone with a large economic interest in Disney's success, I can no longer watch the business underachieve its great potential.

I urge Disney's board to immediately welcome one or more Trian board candidates, including Trian CEO and founding partner Nelson Peltz into the boardroom.

I believe Nelson and Trian can help Disney's leadership better navigate the company's challenges and opportunities."

Now, Yahoo Finance did confirm that Peltz's hedge fund had boosted its stake in Disney and that Peltz was seeking multiple board seats, including one for himself.

And at the time of that revelation, Trian's stake was valued at more than $2.5 billion for more than 30 million shares according to the Wall Street Journal.

But this comes at a time when Disney has really struggled with multiple assets of its businesses.

It's still not profitable on the direct to consumer side.

The box office has struggled.

We now have the ongoing actor strike Disney on Friday, delaying two major theatrical releases in 2024 to 2025.

There's still question marks about the future of Hulu, ESPN, bringing that direct to consumer.

And all of that has led to the stock price really suffering.

Shares are down about 8% year-to-date, matching the S&P 500 year-to-date decline as well.

And, right now, a lot of analysts are questioning what the future of this company really looks like.

Especially, under the leadership of Bob Iger.

He has less than two years left on that contract.

And he really needs to start making some decisions and making some moves.

Succession plans.

I mean, that's something that is a major factor for Disney moving forward.

But a lot of analysts have told me that's really in the back burner right now.

There are many decisions that this company has to make right now, a lot of problem areas that they need to fix if they want to improve moving forward.

Of course, we'll hear from Disney in less than two weeks when they report both their fiscal year end and quarterly results on November 8.

But until then, this pressure from Peltz is certainly going to impact the company in the future and we'll see if it leads to any tangible changes.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, expect some questions on that earnings call as you mentioned.

Allie Canal, as always, thanks so much for that.