President-elect Donald Trump made a pointed remark about the Walt Disney Company during a recent event at Mar-a-Lago, where former Marvel Entertainment boss and billionaire Ike Perlmutter was in attendance. “The guy went from stone-cold broke to owning Disney,” Trump told the crowd, referring to Perlmutter. “Then he got out of Disney because they went woke. He didn’t want woke Donald Duck.”
Also present at the event was legendary actor Sylvester Stallone. Although the exact timing of the event is unclear, it is believed to have taken place earlier this week.
Perlmutter, who is a well-known Trump ally and loyal donor, sold Marvel to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion, which included the rights to Marvel’s extensive roster of superheroes. The deal proved immensely successful, with Disney making a fortune from blockbuster films such as the Iron Man trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Avengers. However, in 2023, Disney parted ways with Perlmutter, officially ending his association with Marvel. His departure coincided with financial struggles for Disney, which had faced backlash for its embrace of “woke” identity politics, including promoting transgenderism in children’s entertainment.
Disney’s decline has been marked by a 44% drop in its stock in 2022, which led to the firing of CEO Bob Chapek and a series of mass layoffs that continued through 2024. Perlmutter’s departure followed his support for activist investor Nelson Peltz’s proxy battle to join the Disney board, putting him at odds with returning CEO Bob Iger.
Additionally, Perlmutter sided with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the state’s ongoing battle with Disney over the Parental Rights in Education law, which restricts radical LGBTQ indoctrination in schools.
Notably, Perlmutter, a private individual, has never given an interview in his decades as a businessman and political donor, keeping his opinions mostly out of the public eye.
