The hedge fund Third Point has revealed that it has invested up to $1 billion in The Walt Disney Company.
The activist investor has called for a series of measures including refreshing the board, spinning off sports network ESPN to shareholders and speeding up the timetable for buying the remaining 33% stake in Hulu still held by the minority shareholder Comcast Corp.
The latter would pave the way for the integration of Hulu into Disney+ and reduce costs.
In a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Third Point’s Daniel Loeb said costs at The House of Mouse were “among the highest in the industry”.
Loeb said he did not want to single out individuals on Disney’s 11-strong board but said Third Point had identified talent who could contribute to the company’s operations. “We believe there are gaps in talent and experience as a group that must be addressed”.
Broadband TV News notes that Third Point initially invested in Disney in 2020. It subsequently sold a significant stake in the company earlier this year.
Last week Disney reported it has 221.1 million streaming subscribers, edging past the 220.6 million posted by Netflix for the same period. ESPN increased by a staggering 53% to 22.8 million – and Hulu saw its subscriber total increase by 8% to 46.2 million.
