Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Roy Disney and grandniece of Walt Disney, has many nice things to say about Disney CEO Bob Iger, but she’s not happy with his salary package when compared to what others at the company make.
Disney, who is a filmmaker and philanthropist, called it “insane” that Iger was paid $65.6 million in fiscal 2018, saying that level of executive pay has “a corrosive effect on society” last week at the Fast Company Impact Council. She doubled down on that sentiment over the weekend on social media.
A longtime activist on the subject of the living wage and the disparity of salaries between workers and executives, Disney said on Twitter that she liked Iger and thought he was doing a good job. It was his pay ratio versus others at the company that brought about the “insane” comment.
“I’m not saying Iger doesn’t deserve a bonus. He most certainly does,” she tweeted. “He is brilliant and has led the company brilliantly.”
Let me very clear. I like Bob Iger. I do NOT speak for my family but only for myself. Other than owning shares (not that many) I have no more say in what happens there than anyone else. But by any objective measure a pay ratio over a thousand is insane. https://t.co/O34OjXd6rr
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2019
A full time worker—at any job— should be able to afford medicine food housing transportation child care and education. At a minimum! Do not insult them by implying they are not trying hard enough. If you need beds changed and towels washed, and you are unwilling to do so yourself
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2019
However, she urged Disney to consider passing some of those profits along to employees.
“There are just over 200K employees at Disney,” she wrote. “If you took half that 65 M bonus, along with half the very generous bonuses everyone else up in the C suites got, I am quite certain you could move significant resources down the line to more evenly share in the great success. … What difference would it make in the quality of life for those that gave up half their bonus? None. Zero. Maybe they can’t afford a third home. Or another boat. I’m not being facetious here. That’s the kind of sacrifice we’d be talking about for high level execs.”
Disney has already cut tens of millions of dollars for Iger’s future potential earnings. Moving forward, his target annual compensation will be $35 million per year.