Disney Cuts CEO Bob Iger’s Total Pay By $13.5M As Fox Merger Watch Continues – Update
UPDATED with Iger statement. Disney has adjusted the compensation of CEO Bob Iger to account for when a new contract is set to begin, which, like most things at the company lately, is contingent on the close of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
In an SEC filing, the company said it has amended Iger’s compensation, cutting by $13.5 million the maximum annual total compensation that the company would have paid him upon the close of the deal, which is still pending. Regulators in Brazil finally signed off last month, moving the merger closer to the finish line, with regulatory bodies in the U.S., Europe, China and elsewhere approving the transaction months ago.
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The changes eliminate an annual base salary increase of $500,000, instead keeping Iger’s salary at $3 million a year. Also cut is $8 million in increases in annual target bonus potential that would have happened after the close. The move leaves intact the potential bonus of $12 million. A long-term incentive opportunity was also lowered by $5 million a year to $20 million.
“I am proud to be leading The Walt Disney Company through this important time and believe the changes I, with the Board, have made are in the best interest of the company,” Iger said in a statement provided to Deadline.
The moves disclosed in the filing do not mean Iger will be anything other than what he has been of late: one of the highest-paid executives in the media business. In January, the company revealed that his 2018 compensation was $65.7 million, an 80% increase over the prior year.
The 2018 package reflected the generous stock grant Iger received as incentive to remain with the company past his planned retirement date, and lead Disney through its $71.3 billion acquisition of the Fox film, television and digital assets.
But the biggest chunk of Iger’s compensation came from the stock award connected to the Fox deal, which was valued at $35.35 million. Disney noted that the stock ultimately could be worth as much as $149.6 million if the acquisition wins regulatory approval and closes, and he achieves the highest level of performance.
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