The tweet follows comments from Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who told journalists at this weekend's D23 Expo that he has big plans for ESPN, though he did not disclose details. Chapek told Variety that "we had no less than 100 inquiries of people that wanted to buy" ESPN when word hit that it was potentially up for sale. "What does that tell you? That says we've got something really good," he said. "And if you have a strategic plan, a vision for where it fits into the company over the next 100 years, then you don't exactly want to divest yourself of it. And we have that plan. We've not shared that plan." The reversal in Loeb's position comes after he took a new stake in Disney in the second quarter valued at about $1 billion, or 0.4% of the company. Disney's shares have rallied about 6.5% over the past month. Loeb had moved out of an earlier position in the company when shares fell as interest rates surged. At the heart of his push to spin off ESPN was a belief that the new business could expand into areas including sports betting. He compared it to the eBay spinoff of PayPal "while continuing to utilize the product to process payments." Along with the ESPN issue, Loeb urged Disney to bring streaming giant Hulu directly onto the Disney+ direct-to-consumer platform. NBC Universal parent Comcast has an agreement to sell its 33% Hulu stake to Disney in two years. Loeb recommended that Disney "make every attempt" to acquire the remaining minority stake before the sale deadline. "We believe that it would even be prudent for Disney to pay a modest premium to accelerate the integration," Loeb said in a letter. "We know this is a priority for you and hope there is a deal to be had before Comcast is contractually obligated to do so in about 18 months." CNBC has reached out to Disney for comment.
Disclosure: CNBC is part of Comcast's NBCUniversal.
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