Bob Chapek earned $24.4 million in compensation during what would be his final year as the CEO of Walt Disney, according to Disney’s preliminary proxy filing, submitted Tuesday morning.
It was also revealed that the now-ousted CEO earned a $20 million severance package, a total that includes company stock currently valued at $12.6 million with the rest in cash.
That $24.2 million annual payday was down slightly from 2021, while now reinstated CEO Bob Iger earned $15 million last year in his role as executive chairman. CFO Christine McCarthy was paid $20.2 million for the fiscal 2022 year, ending Sept. 30.
Chapek was shockingly and suddenly removed as CEO following a tumultuous — and COVID-impacted — tenure in mid-November of last year, with Iger returning to the role he vacated in early 2020. He received a pay package valued at $27 million in annual target compensation, including a $1 million salary, a $1 million target bonus and the rest in equity.
Iger’s return was greeted at the company and within some media circles as a glorified “Return of the King” moment after Chapek’s arguably less talent-friendly reign. The stock boost from the changeover was short-lived. The Disney preliminary proxy filing comes as the company prepares to battle activist investor Nelson Peltz, who is seeking a seat on the board of directors.
Even as the shares dipped to under $86 on word of the “mere” $441 million global opening for “Avatar: The Way of Water” in mid-December, the James Cameron sequel is days away from cracking $2 billion in worldwide box office revenues, and Disney stock has risen back up to over $100 per share for the first time since the first week of November.
Meanwhile, word dropped Tuesday morning that Marvel movies would be allowed into Chinese theaters for the first time since the summer of 2019, beginning with “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
The share price, as of this writing, is at $100.49, rising 6.49% over the last week.
