Disney Heiress Criticizes CEO Robert Iger's Compensation

By Erich Schwartzel 

LOS ANGELES -- Critics of Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger's compensation have gained a prominent ally: an heiress to the fortune of the company's eponymous founder.

At an event held by Fast Company magazine last week and in a subsequent series of Twitter posts, Abigail Disney, a great niece of Walt Disney and granddaughter of his brother and company co-founder Roy O. Disney, characterized Mr. Iger's most recent $65 million pay package as a flagrant example of the bulk of corporate profits going to the wrong employees.

Ms. Disney, 59 years old, has no formal connection to the company, beyond holding an undisclosed number of shares.

Her remarks came in response to a recent study by corporate-research firm Equilar Inc. showing that Mr. Iger's annual compensation is more than 1,400 times that of the median Disney employee.

"I like Bob Iger. I do NOT speak for my family but only for myself," Ms. Disney tweeted on Sunday. "But by any objective measure a pay ratio over a thousand is insane."

Mr. Iger, one of the best-compensated executives in entertainment, has faced more criticism over his salary than most in an era when C-suite pay across multiple sectors is being scrutinized and hourly wage employees say they deserve to share in a company's profits.

A Disney company spokesman disputed Ms. Disney's assertion that Mr. Iger's pay was disproportionate.

"Disney has made historic investments to expand the earning potential and upward mobility of our workers, implementing a starting hourly wage of $15 at Disneyland that's double the federal minimum wage," the spokesman said. He added that 90% of Mr. Iger's compensation is based on performance, and that Disney's stock price has increased to $132 a share from $24 a share when Mr. Iger became CEO in 2005.

In November, Disney reported a record annual profit of $12.6 billion on $59 billion in revenue.

Last year, Disney shareholders voted down a nonbinding endorsement of Mr. Iger's pay package, and the company has altered his compensation twice this year in response to blowback.

In March, days before the company's shareholder meeting, Disney cut $13.5 million in potential salary and incentive awards available to him after the closing of the company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox Inc. assets. That followed a December move to raise the benchmarks Mr. Iger had to meet to collect a $100 million equity grant in 2021.

Following the changes last month, Disney shareholders narrowly approved a say-on-pay referendum on Mr. Iger's salary, with about 57% of shareholder votes supporting it.

Ahead of contract negotiations with the company last year, several theme-park unions promoted a well-publicized report detailing concerns workers had about being evicted or earning enough to cover everyday expenses. One Disneyland employee said she was homeless and slept in her car between shifts.

On Sunday, Ms. Disney, who holds a doctorate in English literature and has made a series of documentaries on social-justice issues, made it clear whose side she was on.

"Anyone who contributes to the success of a profitable company and who works full time to do so should not go hungry, should not ration insulin, and should not have to sleep in a car," she said.

Write to Erich Schwartzel at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2019 15:14 ET (19:14 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.