It seems that when Bob Iger returned to the Walt Disney Company, he did so at a massive pay cut. Even more so when you realize that much of his compensation is based on stock performance, and we all know how Disney stock has been performing in the last year.
According to Variety, Bob Iger was making $45.9 million when he left in 2021, and now he is making $31.6 million with his base pay at $865,385 with an additional $16.1 million in stock awards, $10 million in stock-option awards, $2.14 million cash bonus and $2.48 million in other compensation.
Variety points out that ousted CEO Bob Chapek received $9.94 million compensation for 2023, even though he was ousted in November 2022.
Meanwhile, the Walt Disney Company has faced numerous box office failures, stock drops below $80 per share, massive layoffs, and price hikes. Most of the issues were due to poor choices by Bob Iger, his management team, and the Board before Bob Chapek even was put in as CEO. On top of all this, the current Walt Disney Board wants shareholders to vote them back in.
Many are also calling out Bob Iger for his high compensation while he refused to give the WGA and SAG-AFTRA what they wanted.
Yesterday, the Walt Disney Company put out a statement telling shareholders to vote for the following people:
Mary T. Barra, Safra A. Catz, Amy L. Chang, D. Jeremy Darroch, Carolyn N. Everson, Michael B.G. Froman, James P. Gorman, Robert A. Iger, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Calvin R. McDonald, Mark G. Parker, and Derica W. Rice.
If these names sound familiar, it’s because they are the names of the current Walt Disney Board of Directors that have been in office while the company has ended up where it is now.
You can see by the dates active that the overwhelming majority have been on the Walt Disney Board long enough to have been part of the cause, along with Bob Iger, for the company’s decline.
Yet Disney claims they are the ones qualified to grow shareholder value.
“The director candidates possess significant expertise in implementing strategic priorities while growing shareholder value across a spectrum of varied businesses, and have the skill sets, experiences and professional backgrounds representing a diversity of perspectives and characteristics that are particularly relevant to Disney’s business and strategic objectives.”
In a recent statement, the Walt Disney Company asked shareholders to re-elect most of these individuals and not vote for candidates brought forth by Nelson Petlz’s Trian Partners, including Isaac Perlmutter and James Rasulo. The Board also tells shareholders to reject the nominations from the Blackwells Group, including Craig Hatkoff, Jessica Schell, and Leah Solivan. They also want shareholders to reject Peltz’s proposal to amend the Company Bylaws.
Right now something needs to change.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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