Shareholder Proposal for Disney to Spin Off Real Estate into REIT (& Star Wars)

[Bearval]

Membership Extras? If you're referring to discounts and such, I think "blue card" DVC owners will continue to see exactly the same perks as Annual Passholders. And those of us who are longtime owners remember a time when any discounts were few and far between.

I think Josh D'Amaro would be a strong pick to replace Iger.

In a world where profit and share value mean everything, as apparently it does to corporate raiders, you wind up with mediocrity and decay once they hit their profit goals., and then a swift decline to sell everyting off. It has happened to numberous entertainment companies.. Six Flags, Orion, MGM, Columbia, and we are currently seeing the decline of CBS/Paramount.

I remember the part of the new "mission statement" of a global pharmaceutical company I once worked for that was taken over . It had a line " to increase shareholder value" and it acted like that was all that mattered to them. I believe we were the 2nd company in the US to convert the pensions into a " cash balance plan" which screwed everybody. We had people who were not planning to retire for up to 5 more years hurry up and retire before the end of that year so they would still receive their traditional pension before the conversion since they payout would have been cut in half. Not soon after that the US government put a freeze on companies ability to do that but it was too late for ones that already did.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Not really. Lucas was just complaining a few years ago that he had to sell Lucasfilm because he needed the money to fund future projects and a museum.

But more recently he’s been far more vocal about the quality, quantity, and direction of current Lucasfilm products and it’s no secret that’s he’s not too pleased with Kathleen Kennedy anymore (maybe not Southpark level yet, but…).

Obviously Disney didn’t twist his arm to sell back in 2012, and he didn’t complain too much about the $4 billion payday, but in the ensuing decade, more so in the last 4 or 5 years, he’s become less and less happy with Disney’s stewardship of the Star Wars franchise and his creative legacy. That, and since half of the $4 billion was in stock (37 million shares to be exact), he’s taken a financial bath as well over the last 36 months.

 

[Jwaire]

But more recently he’s been far more vocal about the quality, quantity, and direction of current Lucasfilm products and it’s no secret that’s he’s not too pleased with Kathleen Kennedy anymore (maybe not Southpark level yet, but…).

Obviously Disney didn’t twist his arm to sell back in 2012, and he didn’t complain too much about the $4 billion payday,but in the ensuing decade, more so in the last 4 or 5 years, he’s become less and less happy with Disney’s stewardship of the Star Wars franchise and his creative legacy. That, and since half of the $4 billion was in stock (37 million shares to be exact), he’s taken a financial bath as well over the last 36 months.

He also couldn't stand Bob Chapek, per rumors.

 

[DonMacGregor]

He also couldn't stand Bob Chapek, per rumors.

From what I hear, he hated Chapek.

Lucas can be ridiculously two-faced about Lucasfilm. On one hand, he had zero need to sell the studio beyond a desire to fund some other nebulous endeavors, and not selling would have ensured whatever creative purity he whines about it losing. On the other hand, all he does is complain about the loss of creative purity and the bastardizing of his dream.

For a guy who literally created the film merchandise industry, and who’d license Star Wars merchandising rights to slap Luke Skywalker on just about everything from underwear to breakfast cereal, he hated Chapek even though that was Chapek’s forte.

Plus, Chapek was Iger’s hand-picked successor. More reason for Lucas to want Iger gone.

 

[Chuck S]

Just a reminder, now that the voting is over...we do need to try to return to topic to how the vote impacted DVC, as these are the DVC Boards. You are free to discuss things like "What woulld happened if Disney did had sold off the real estate/resort division?" or "How would DVC be affected if Disney slashed upkeep on the cash resorts to save money and boost stock prices, would DVC resorts be better kept than cash resorts, since our dues pay for it?" and so forth. You could even stretch to "Do you think the Star Wars hotel will be remodeled and converted to DVC?" Just so it relates to DVC. Thanks...

 

[AstroBlasters]

Just a reminder, now that the voting is over...we do need to try to return to topic to how the vote impacted DVC, as these are the DVC Boards. You are free to discuss things like "What woulld happened if Disney did had sold off the real estate/resort division?" or "How would DVC be affected if Disney slashed upkeep on the cash resorts to save money and boost stock prices, would DVC resorts be better kept than cash resorts, since our dues pay for it?" and so forth. You could even stretch to "Do you think the Star Wars hotel will be remodeled and converted to DVC?" Just so it relates to DVC. Thanks...

Probably should just close the thread….

 

[DonMacGregor]

Probably should just close the thread….

Yup.

 

[Chuck S]

We'll see where it goes. It may just die off on its own.

 

[Chuck S]

Presently, only Nelson Peltz, of Trian Fund Management, is viewed as a possible contender.

Peltz sold off all his Disney stock a couple of months ago.

 

[DonMacGregor]

We'll see where it goes. It may just die off on its own.

Apparently it didn’t. LOL.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Somehow I missed this thread until today; I am not sure how as this is great information. I promptly purchased a few shares of DIS after checking this out, just so I have some voting options as a DVC owner, even if my votes have minimal effect.

 

[CastAStone]

Somehow I missed this thread until today; I am not sure how as this is great information. I promptly purchased a few shares of DIS after checking this out, just so I have some voting options as a DVC owner, even if my votes have minimal effect.

I don’t think it’s likely to resurface any time soon. Spinning of real estate is something only desperate companies or greedy controlling owners actually do. Disney is not desperate, and does not have a controlling owner. I’m not sure it even has a meaningful shareholder anymore. Lorraine Powell Jobs and George Lucas each owned a few percent at last notice, but who knows if that is still true, neither owns enough to be required to disclose when they buy or sell shares. And neither of them strike me as the type to strip a company for parts.

So I think we’re safe for a while.

 

[LAX]

I don’t think it’s likely to resurface any time soon. Spinning of real estate is something only desperate companies or greedy controlling owners actually do. Disney is not desperate, and does not have a controlling owner. I’m not sure it even has a meaningful shareholder anymore. Lorraine Powell Jobs and George Lucas each owned a few percent at last notice, but who knows if that is still true, neither owns enough to be required to disclose when they buy or sell shares. And neither of them strike me as the type to strip a company for parts.

So I think we’re safe for a while.

That's the hope!

LAX

 

[McCrae]

There is nothing saying that Disney has to be the one running the timeshare… similar to how other companies spun off their time shares into separate entities.

So yes, we would have access to the properties as owners…. but it might be run by a 3rd party….. and they could be penny pinchers concerned about “shareholder return” over the concerns of the membership.

I would think this could also kill all membership extras with the parks, but who knows.

From Disney’s side it would give them an infusion of cash to pay off debt, put more money back into the parks, and potentially another customer to license out their IP for theming.

To be clear, I do not like this idea…. but it has now entered my mind as a risk I have to consider with my DVC points.

Everything Disney does is run to maximise profits for shareholders. They will charge for anything they can get away with and cut anything which they can that isn’t generating a profit…bus transportation from the airport being a good example.