Revolt over Disney executive salaries

A large minority of Walt Disney shareholders who cast votes at the company’s annual meeting opposed the company’s executive pay plan.

Disney said 46% of votes were cast against the plan and 53% in favour of the plan, with 1% abstaining. The vote is advisory and non-binding.

About 82% of total shares outstanding were represented by the vote, the company said.

Disney has previously faced criticism over former CEO Bob Iger’s pay, which was $65.6m (€58m) in the company’s 2018 fiscal year, up 80% from the previous year.

At its 2017 annual meeting, Disney suffered a rare rebuke when a majority of shareholders opposed its executive pay in a non-binding vote.

Disney announced Mr Iger stepped down on February 25 but remains at the company as executive chairman. He will focus on content creation until he retires at the end of 2021.

At the meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, shareholders did not vote on new CEO Bob Chapek’s compensation - only on a pay plan for other executives in fiscal year 2019, which ended on September 28. That plan set Mr Iger’s 2019 compensation at $47.5m.

Glass Lewis advised shareholders to oppose the 2019 executive pay plan in a non-binding vote, as did other proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services and Egan-Jones.

In Disney’s current proxy statement, the company acknowledged the pushback on executive pay, stating that during the fiscal year 2019, members of management and the board spoke with 11 of the company’s top 20 shareholders and contacted approximately 74% of its largest 50 investors, “seeking input on compensation and governance matters.” Based on that feedback, Mr Iger agreed to reduce his compensation on three different occasions.