Disney’s Bob Iger Has a Bone to Pick With the U.S. Tax System

By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor

Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

Bob Iger
Bob Iger reveals new details on Disney's Shanghai park
Courtesy of Disney

Disney’s (DIS) CEO Bob Iger has made it clear he’s not a fan of the way U.S. taxes are set up.

In an interview with CNNMoney, Iger said that corporate tax rates are too high and are “anti-competitive.” In the interview, he added that they’re “ridiculously complex.”

“It doesn’t mean that a company shouldn’t pay taxes, but I think the structure is off…the tax base should be lowered, and the loopholes should be closed,” Iger said in the interview.

Corporate taxes have been a focal point of the 2016 presidential election, with Bernie Sanders blasting businesses for using loopholes to pay less of them. Sanders has even come out against Disney in recent months and has said the company exploits its workers.

 

Iger, unsurprisingly, shot back, saying that Disney is a “positive for the United States and for the world.”

“He chose the wrong company to criticize,” Iger explained to CNNMoney. “I thought that it was indicative of a person who had never been in business and had not taken the time to really understand and appreciate what the meaning of business is to the country.”