Disney shareholders approve executive pay despite backlash
Disney has fended off a shareholder revolt over executive pay after a slim majority of investors approved the company’s controversial remuneration plan.
A vote on executive compensation, which included outgoing boss Bob Iger’s $47.5m (£37m) pay packet for 2019, passed with 53 per cent of votes at the media giant’s annual general meeting today.
Disney said 46 per cent of votes were cast against the plan, while one per cent abstained. The vote is advisory and non-binding.
The narrow victory is the latest battle between the company and its shareholders over high levels of pay for top executives.
Disney came under fire last year over Iger’s 2018 pay, which rose 80 per cent year on year to $65.6m. The majority of shareholders voted against the firm’s pay plan at its 2017 annual meeting.
Iger stepped down from leading the House of Mouse last month, but remains as executive chairman and will focus on content creation until his retirement at the end of 2021.
The longstanding media boss has been replaced by Bob Chapek, who has led the firm’s parks division since its creation in 2018. Chapek’s pay was not subject to a vote at today’s meeting.
Influential proxy advisers Glass Lewis and ISS both urged shareholders to oppose Disney’s executive pay plan for 2019.
Disney acknowledged the pushback against its pay packets, stating that it had discussed the issue with some of its largest shareholders over the course of the year. As a result, Iger agreed to reduce his compensation on three different occasions.
Iger’s employment agreement will be unchanged in his new role as chairman, meaning Disney will be forking out two chief executive salaries over the next two years. Chapek’s compensation is set at a minimum of $25m.
It comes at a key time for the entertainment conglomerate, which last year launched Disney Plus, a new streaming service to rival Netflix.
Disney last month said it had racked up more than 28m paid subscribers for its new platform, which launches in the UK later this month.