Behind the scenes at Disney on Thursday, senior executives were giddy. The activist investor Nelson Peltz, in a surprise morning phone call to CNBC, had ended his attempt to install himself or his son on Disney’s board and shake up the company.“Toodle-oo!” one Disney television executive texted a reporter, along with a screen shot of the CNBC headline.In truth, it was a victory for both sides. Disney was able to avoid adding an unwanted activist to its board. Mr. Peltz was able to say he succeeded in pushing Disney to cut costs, revamp its streaming business, refocus on profit growth and reinstate its dividend, which it suspended in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Disney aggressively addressed each of those items on Wednesday in an effort to short-circuit Mr. Peltz’s proxy battle, which had been set to culminate at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting on April 3.“The proxy fight is over,” a representative for Trian Partners, an investment firm led by M …
