Nelson Peltz (Unilever PR pic)
Nelson Peltz wants to shake up Estée Lauder. Or maybe not. There have been some conflicting reports in recent days as to the billionaire’s plans for the famed cosmetics company.
Nelson Peltz is known as an activist investor and there has been speculation that he may step in and make some sort of a play after Estée Lauder shares plummeted by 17% last week. The company has an estimated value of $72 billion.
According to a report in the New York Post, Nelson Peltz could be looking to oust Estée Lauder CEO Fabrizio Freda. An anonymous source told the paper, “A number of directors and institutional investors think the CEO has lost his touch. They are now recruiting shareholder activists.”
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Nelson Peltz recently campaigned to put his own people on the board of Disney in an attempt to assert his control over that company. But that move did not end successfully for the investor. In February his Trian Fund Management dropped its bid after Disney head Bob Iger revealed that Disney would find a way to slash $5.5 billion in expenses and cut 7,000 jobs to save money. At the time, Trian said that Disney had accepted its demands for the company’s management.
Nelson Peltz spun this as a victory at the time telling CNBC, “Now Disney plans to do everything we wanted them to do. We wish the very best to Bob, this management team and the board.”
But on Monday Nelson Peltz told CNBC’s Jim Kramer that he has no intention of pursuing a shakeup at Estee Lauder.
Meanwhile, Nelson Peltz is also warning that the recent failures of major banks like First Republic may not be isolated incidents and that the worst may have yet to come. And so he renewed calls for the deposit insurance offered by the US Federal Reserve known as FDIC to be extended to safeguard regional lenders.
“It should stop the deposit outflow from the small regional and community banks. I don’t think we want all of the funds just going to major banks,” Nelson Peltz told Financial Times.
“We’re one of the few countries that has a large infrastructure of small regional and community banks,” added Peltz. “They have filled the needs of small businesses for well over a hundred years — I believe we can’t afford to let them go.
“I believe regional banks are the backbone of many companies and real estate across the US,” said Nelson Peltz. “This is the way to give them continued influence and strength.”
