At a private event on Monday night at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, President-elect Donald Trump took a moment to praise Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, the former chairman of Marvel Entertainment, in front of his supporters.
Trump remarked, “The guy went from stone-cold broke to owning Disney,” adding, “Then he got out of Disney because they went woke. He didn’t want woke Donald Duck, right?”
Perlmutter, who was laid off by Disney in 2023 after his division was merged into other parts of the company due to cost-cutting measures, has since made headlines for selling all of his Disney stock. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Perlmutter sold around 25.6 million shares — worth nearly $3 billion — and expressed his belief that Disney’s stock would continue to drop. He even indicated his intention to repurchase much of his stock if the price falls to between $65-$75 per share.
A key figure in Marvel’s success, Perlmutter took control of Marvel Entertainment in the 1990s, and in 2009, he sold the company to Disney for over $4 billion. During his time as Marvel’s chairman, Perlmutter famously clashed with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige over the production of films like Black Panther and Captain Marvel, believing that films featuring Black or female lead characters would not be commercially viable. However, Disney CEO Bob Iger stepped in to overrule him, and both films went on to become major hits.
Perlmutter was one of several notable figures in attendance at the Mar-a-Lago event, which also saw actor Sylvester Stallone standing nearby as Trump spoke about Perlmutter.