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Perlmutter, 80, had supported activist
shareholder Nelson Peltz's unsuccessful bid this year to obtain
a seat on Disney's corporate board.
The executive was informed by phone Wednesday that Marvel
Entertainment, a small division within the company responsible
for comic book publishing and some consumer products, would be
merged into larger Disney business units, according to a second
source with knowledge of the matter.
Perlmutter could not be immediately reached for comment.
Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Entertainment, will remain and
report to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, the second
source said.
Disney began to eliminate 7,000 jobs on Monday, in an effort to
save $5.5 billion in costs and make its streaming business
profitable.
Perlmutter, who outmaneuvered billionaire Carl Icahn for control
of the comic book publisher in the late 1990s, sold Marvel to
Disney for $4 billion in 2009. Disney said at the time that
Perlmutter would continue to oversee Marvel properties.
In 2015, Disney CEO Bob Iger restructured Marvel, placing Marvel
Studios under Walt Disney Studios. Iger described the decision
in his autobiography, "The Ride of a Lifetime," saying he
detected "a growing tension" between the New York-based Marvel
team and the film group in Hollywood, adding, "I had to
intervene."
It was a decision that multiple sources say angered Perlmutter,
who retained the title of chairman of Marvel Entertainment, but
would have no oversight of the film studio's budgets or creative
process.
Perlmutter, who friends say was upset with Disney's financial
performance under its former chief executive, Bob Chapek, took
the unusual step of contacting Disney board members and
executives multiple times last year to advocate for Peltz to
join the board, according to regulatory filings.
Peltz and Perlmutter are friends who travel in the same social
circles in Palm Beach, Florida.
Disney insiders had expressed incredulity at Perlmutter's work
on behalf of an activist shareholder. One outside advisor to the
entertainment company said Perlmutter may have been motivated by
his anger at seeing his role at the company diminished.
The New York Times first reported Perlmutter's ouster.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles,
Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Nick
Zieminski)
(Photo: The Walt Disney headquarters in
Burbank, California December 18, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer/File
Photo)
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