Ike Perlmutter, the former chairman and CEO of Marvel Entertainment in the '90s has announced that he's sold all of his Disney ($DIS) shares, which total 256 million. Yesterday, $DIS was valued at $91/share, which means Perlmutter may have amassed as much as $2.329 billion in cash.
Perlmutter rescued Marvel when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, and negotiated the selling a number of the company's IPS to film studios alongside his partner, Avi Arad, including the X-Men to Fox and Spider-Man to Sony. Perlmutter received the $DIS stock when Disney purchased Marvel back in 2009.
However, Perlmutter was an unpopular figure at the company in more recent years, and according to Bob Iger's biography, was the sole reason why it took such a long time for movies such as Black Widow and Black Panther to get made at Marvel Studios.
Perlmutter, who last held the title of chairman of Marvel Entertainment, lost control of Marvel Television in 2019 and was part of company-wide layoffs in March 2023.
More recently, Perlmutter, joined activist investor Nelson Peltz last year in a bid to secure two seats on Disney's board and thus acquire a more active role in the comapny's decisionmaking but was soundly defeated by current Disney CEO Bob Iger.
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Perlmutter revealed that he sold all of his shares, "because he doesn’t have confidence in management, and that he might be a buyer again if it falls to $65-$75."
However, perhaps this was a poor time to sell, as Deadpool & Wolverine seems poised to return Marvel Studios to the glory days where theatrical releases were all but guaranteed to gross a billion+.
However, other recent reports indicate that attendance at Disney World is down this year, and that Disney has been discretely cutting admission and hotel rates in reaction to dwindling attendance and customer displeasure. The growing point of contention among the community known as "Disney adults" is that the parks have become too expensive.
Combined with the fact that nearby Universal Studios will be opening Epic Universe next summer- which includes new lands centered on Super Nintendo World, more Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, and classic Universal Monsters- and Disney World might be in even bigger trouble next year, as the segment of the company that brings in the biggest revenue will be outshined by a rival in its own backyard.