The Tesla mogul “is willing to listen to anybody,” the activist investor said, while adding that he was “very surprised” that institutional shareholders voted against him in his board fight.

Nelson Peltz (left) and Elon Musk LISA O’CONNOR/AFP/Getty Images

Fresh off his bruising loss in the proxy fight against The Walt Disney Co., the activist investor Nelson Peltz appeared on CNBC to discuss the fight in a conversation with Jim Cramer.

“I’m willing to give them the opportunity to prove me wrong; I’m willing to give them the opportunity to do as they say,” Peltz said. “The shareholders have voted. They want to give management and the board a chance. So, so be it. We will watch like we did last time.”

Peltz said he was “very surprised” that after the Institutional Shareholder Services recommendation in his favor, most institutional investors still voted for the Disney board.

“If you look at their comments, their comments were beautiful, they were very complimentary. But at the end of the day, they check the box and you’ll have to ask them why they did it,” Peltz added. “I’ve got my feelings but I’m not going to talk about it here on television, but you should ask them. I was very disappointed, to say the least, that after the beautiful comments, and after the good meetings we had with them, they decided to vote against us.”

Instead, Peltz argued that it was “ego” at play. “There is no doubt that Jay Rasulo and I were much more capable of being positive directors on this board than some of the other people there, no question,” Peltz said. “But the ego in the room didn’t allow for it. And you’ve seen that over and over again, as I have. And once people get ego in check, good things happen.”

But there is one person who Peltz said does not have any ego: Tesla founder Elon Musk.

“Can I tell you something? Elon is a friend of mine, I think the world of him. This guy has no ego. OK?” Peltz said. “That may be hard for you to believe, but having spent the amount of time I have with him, he is willing to listen to anybody … But his ideas are beyond anything I’ve ever seen in my whole life. He’s a brilliant guy, understands so many things about the world. But he’s a good listener as well. And the really smart people in the world are good listeners.”

As for former Disney CFO Rasulo, who joined Peltz in his proxy battle, Peltz suggested the pair may continue working together.

“Jay has become my great buddy. Jay and I are going to work together again at some point in time,” he said. “I think the world of him. I really got to know him up close as we went through this process. And he’s a star. He is really smart. He understands this business and he understands business.”