“It has been a very difficult year. The most difficult thing we have had in recent memory, if ever, ”said Bob Iger, for the first time on Tuesday at the company’s annual virtual shareholders’ meeting. Looking excited, he noted that he would be the last one as he prepared to leave after 16 years as CEO and, more recently, CEO, and well over 40 years at the company.
Iger was appointed chief executive in 2005, replacing Michael Eisner. Last February, in a surprise announcement days before the pandemic was established, Disney passed the baton of the CEO to another longtime executive, Bob Chapek. Iger assumed the position of executive chairman and supervisor of the company’s content assets until the end of 2021, when his contract expires.
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Chapek, speaking later at the event, expressed “how grateful I am for the opportunity he has given me and for his faith in me. Bob has taken this company to incredible heights throughout the year and I look forward to continuing to develop his remarkable legacy. “
“When I took on the role of CEO, none of us could have imagined how the virus would have changed the world and our way of life,” as well as business, Chapek said. “However, we have persevered.” Some parks are online and closer, cinemas are slowly reopening, including in New York City last weekend, production has increased. and streaming is going really well. Chapek was unsure about restarting the cruise lines, but said maybe in September.
Iger was a transformation CEO, overseeing acquisitions for Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox. He noted the challenge, in a rapidly evolving media landscape, to serve shareholders, employees and consumers well. The former certainly have no reason to regret. Disney shares soared last year driven by Disney + and now what appears to be the culmination of a vaccine-driven economic revival. The shares are trading at around $ 195, well above a $ 52 low of $ 79. Their market capitalization is $ 354 billion.
Iger focused today, as he did in the past, on the importance of “telling quality stories”. It’s what He said that’s what he remembers talking about on stage in March 2006 in Anaheim, at his first annual meeting as CEO. Disney turns 100 next year. “I am sure that [quality] will continue to be the case for the next 100 years and beyond. “
During a question and answer session, several shareholders thanked the company for its service.
The event, which tends to resemble a party with more coils and boys in tow than an average annual meeting, was so cramped today by the virtual format During a question and answer session, several shareholders thanked the company for its service. Others criticized executive compensation, board diversity and transparency. (Iger’s payment package totaled $ 21 million in Disney’s last fiscal year ending in September. Chapek earned $ 14.2 million.)
Disney is one of several companies that suspended political contributions after the violent attack on the United States Capitol by politicians who opposed the results of the Electoral College. The first of two shareholder resolutions called for more transparency in Disney’s lobbying spending to make it easier to track contributions. The second requested that non-administrative employees be included in the lists of candidates nominated for director.
Both resolutions were rejected. The shareholders approved the executive compensation and re-elected all ten members of the company’s board – Chapek and Iger, Susan Arnold, Mary Barra, Safra Catz, Francis deSouza, Michael Froman, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Mark Parker and Derica Rice.
California passed laws requiring diversity on the boards of state-based companies. Chapek said it is a priority “to ensure that we have representation for all ethnicities and different social groups”.