Maybe Just a Little?
by BK Munn
There’s a war of words taking place between the management of Marvel Entertainment owner Disney and a group of Disney shareholders represented by Institutional Shareholder Services. In advance of Disney’s upcoming annual shareholder meeting, ISS criticized Disney CEO Robert Iger’s $31 million salary and his dual role as CEO and Board Chairman. ISS recommends firing the current Board of Directors for electing Iger, saying the Board’s decision represents “an about-face from governance reforms adopted following a highly public ‘vote no’ campaign at Disney in 2004.” the report said.
Disney responded in SEC Filings here and here on March 1, saying “no such commitment was made,” describing ISS’s criticisms as “based on both flawed premises and methodology.
In referring to Iger’s salary and compensation, the ISS report “finds pay for performance misaligned at the company.”
Disney says Iger’s pay “is entirely in line with the compensation paid chief executive officers of the five other media peers.”
Disney fundamentally disagrees with certain of ISS’s recommendations, which are based on both flawed premises and methodology. The Company’s Board of Directors adheres to a rigorous performance test for compensation, and the Company’s tremendous performance under Bob Iger is evident. Disney had record financial performance in Fiscal Year 2011 and its total shareholder return is more than four times greater than that of the S&P 500 during Mr. Iger’s more than six years of leadership. After careful and considered deliberation, the Board took action to secure Mr. Iger’s leadership through his expected retirement in 2016 to provide for an effective, seamless succession and management transition and continuity of the Company’s proven strategy. In addition, the board will appoint an independent lead director with duties and responsibilities that, ironically, exceed in scope those recommended by ISS.
more: LA Times