Bob Chapek left Disney with his pockets full. The company board decided to fire him last November after a somewhat stormy year, despite the fact that only a few months earlier he had decided to extend his contract. Thanks to this renewal, the manager will have an exit compensation of just over 20 million dollars (18.5 million euros at current exchange rates) after having earned another 24.2 million dollars last year, according to information recorded by the company this Wednesday at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
In fiscal year 2022, which closed on October 1, he received a fixed salary of 2.5 million dollars, incentives in shares valued at 10.8 million, options worth 3.75 million, and a variable pay of 6.75 million, in addition to other compensation valued at $372,000, including personal travel expenses assumed by the company. In total, 24.2 million dollars were spent, which was a decrease from 32.5 million the previous year.
In June 2022, the board agreed to a three-year extension of Chapek’s contract, “based on his work at the helm of the company during the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic and the growth of the company’s streaming business,” according to a figure in the call for the shareholders’ meeting published this Wednesday.
However, Disney explains that the board spent a lot of time discussing the company’s leadership in the months that followed, and just five months later, in November, it “determined that Chapek was no longer the right person to serve as CEO.” According to the company, significant developments and changes in the general macroeconomic environment during this period influenced how the board considered the right leader in light of rapidly evolving industry and market dynamics.
“The board concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Mr. Iger is best placed to lead the company until a suitable long-term successor is identified,” the board added. documentation registered by the company. After leaving the company’s presidency in 2021, Bob Iger returned with a two-year contract to the position of chief executive that he had held between 2005 and 2020, before handing over the bulk of his executive functions to Chapek himself.
Therefore, on November 20, with the last fiscal year already closed, the board decided to terminate Chapek’s contract and reached a consulting agreement with him. He is entitled to 6.5 million dollars in cash compensation for the slightly more than two and a half years remaining on his contract, as well as another million dollars in prorated bonus for the year 2023.But at that figure, an incentive in shares estimated at about 12.7 million additional dollars is added, although this figure is approximate and changes depending on the moment of sale of the awarded titles.
Bob Iger, who piloted Disney’s purchase of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm, returns to the company with a contract that sets a salary of one million dollars per year, a variable compensation in cash of up to two million, and a stock incentive with a target of 25 million dollars linked to the evolution of the company. In fiscal year 2021, he earned $45.9 million for being in charge of the company.
