Today, The Walt Disney Company’s executive compensation numbers for 2020 have been released – including what Disney CEO Bob Chapek and Executive President Bob Iger received – and online fans are not necessarily happy with the numbers, particularly in the midst of to tens of thousands of Disney layoffs in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iger received a total of $ 21 million, Chapek won $ 14.2 million, CFO Christine McCarthy won $ 10.9 million and senior executive vice president M. Jayne Parker received $ 7.3 million.
Related: Disney reports $ 2.4 billion loss to parks in fourth quarter
To be fair, in the spring of 2020, both Chapek and Iger suffered significant wage cuts, as Disney lost money during the coronavirus outbreak. Three of the company’s six global theme parks – Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland – remain closed alongside the Disney Cruise Line.
Another park, Tokyo Disney Resort, is currently operating with limited hours due to a wave of COVID-19 in the local area.
Only the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and Shanghai Disneyland are operating relatively normally, with advanced health and safety precautions, such as face masks and social distance measures, of course.
Here, we take a look at how fans are reacting to Disney’s executive compensation packages for 2020.
Adam Meyers responded to The Hollywood Reporter’s article on Disney executive compensation with the following thoughts:
The lowest salary mentioned in this article is US $ 14.1 MILLION. How many of those dismissed workers do you think could have improved the quality of life if JUST Chapek’s salary had been reduced by $ 4 million and distributed among them? He would be JUST WELL with 10 million instead of 14. PLUS Iger’s cut
The lowest salary mentioned in this article is US $ 14.1 MILLION. How many of those dismissed workers do you think could have improved the quality of life if JUST chapek’s salary had been reduced by $ 4 million and distributed among them? he would be JUST WELL with 10,000 instead of 14. PLUS Iger’s cut
– Adam Myers (@TheAdamSplitter) January 19, 2021
Related: Disney CEO Bob Chapek speaks after the US Capitol incident
A cast member shared this opinion about the current Disney CEO:
Chapek didn’t even let us change our main gate benefit to Disney + during the quarantine, as he undervalued his employees
Chapek didn’t even let us change our main gate benefit to Disney + during the quarantine, as he undervalued his employees
– Echo, Crow An (@EchoCRowan) January 19, 2021
Orlando area reporter Ashley Carter shared these details about the Walt Disney Company’s compensation last year:
The Walt Disney Company revealed a 2020 compensation for its top executives. Executive President Bob Iger earned $ 21 million in total compensation, while CEO Bob Chapek, who became CEO in late February, earned $ 14 million
The Walt Disney Company revealed a 2020 compensation for its top executives. Executive President Bob Iger earned $ 21 million in total compensation, while CEO Bob Chapek, who became CEO in late February, earned $ 14 million. pic.twitter.com/oLvKLBXNNR
– Ashley Carter (@ AshleyLCarter1) January 19, 2021
Immediate responses to Carter’s post included:
And many people at Disney lost their jobs in 2020 …
and
This will not go down well
And many people in @Disney lost their jobs in 2020 …
– Dawn DeVries Sokol 😷 🌵 (@dawndsokol) January 19, 2021
Related: Bob Iger brought magic back to Disneyland
On the other hand, some Disney fans have noted that Chapek has been the company’s lowest-paid CEO for some time. Nick Turner wrote:
Covid presses payment for Disney Bobs
Iger’s pay drops 56% and Chapek is the company’s lowest-paid CEO in more than a decade.
Covid squeezes the payment for the Disney Bobs.
Iger’s pay drops 56% and Chapek is the company’s lowest-paid CEO in more than a decade. https://t.co/lEBkyUybAv via @chrispalmeri @MelinAnders
– Nick Turner (@NewsyNick) January 19, 2021
Although Chapek just took over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company in February 2020, just before the pandemic actually started in the United States, Iger is set to leave Disney this year to pursue other projects, including working on a board start-up.
Other executive jolts have also occurred this year, with Disney completely restructured to focus on Disney + and the original streaming content. Kareem Daniel was appointed head of this new consumer-facing division of the company.
In the future, it will certainly be interesting to see how the remuneration of streaming executives compares to others in more well-established departments, such as Josh D’Amaro’s Parks, Experiences and Products division.
What do you think? Should Mr. Iger and Mr. Chapek have taken even less in 2020 or is their compensation reasonable?