Marvel Entertainment’s Ike Perlmutter booted amid Disney layoffs

Walt Disney Co. has bounced Marvel Entertainment chairman Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter.

The 80-year-old comics titan, who has long been a prickly presence within the Burbank entertainment company, got swept up in a broad cost-cutting move that began earlier this week. Disney confirmed that Perlmutter had received his pink slip.

When Disney purchased the comic book publisher Marvel in 2009, Perlmutter instantly became one of the largest individual shareholders in the entertainment conglomerate, giving him rare powers. Disney gave the Israeli American billionaire a wide berth to help shape Marvel projects, including “Iron Man” and “The Avengers” — movies that have generated billions of dollars in box office receipts for Disney.

In recent years, Perlmutter’s purview has been significantly smaller and separate from the powerful Marvel film studio led by Kevin Feige.

Though once Marvel’s chief executive, Perlmutter saw his role diminished in a 2015 management shuffle. Disney had Feige, the architect of Marvel’s lucrative film strategy, report to Disney’s then-studio boss Alan Horn instead of Perlmutter.

Perlmutter played a supporting role in Disney’s recent corporate drama when he lobbied Disney leadership to support the campaign of billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz, who was agitating to join the Disney board of directors.

Peltz’s efforts began last year before Chief Executive Bob Iger returned to the company. At the time, Bob Chapek was still in charge, and Perlmutter called the embattled CEO along Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy and board member Safra Catz to advocate for Peltz’s inclusion on the board. After Iger returned in November, he made clear that Peltz was not welcome on the board.

Instead, Iger focused on a corporate restructuring and cost-cutting program to find $5.5 billion in savings. The plan includes the elimination of about 7,000 jobs, or about 4% of Disney’s global workforce, which began this week.

The cost-cutting, which ultimately cost Perlmutter his job, won the endorsement of Peltz, who disbanded his proxy campaign.

The New York Times first reported that Perlmutter had been laid off.

Perlmutter, according to Disney, said having Peltz would “help Mr. Chapek counter recent headwinds he had faced, solidify his position as CEO, and preempt any other potential shareholder nominations of director nominees.”

According Disney’s filing, Perlmutter said that “without Mr. Peltz there, former executives including Mr. Iger, would be back at Disney.”

“This guy’s whole life is dedicated to being a success,” said former Marvel executive Scott M. Sassa told The Times in 2012. Perlmutter had shown himself especially adept at turning around troubled companies, Sassa noted.

“He’s not Mr. Charming, but once you get to know him, he’s a guy that I really like a lot,” Sassa said. “He’s super smart, incredibly loyal to people and highly principled.”