Robert Iger, Walt Disney Co’s chief executive, absorbed a 58 percent compensation cut this year, brought on by the entertainment company’s struggles during the worst recession in more than 70 years.
The Associated Press valued Iger’s pay package for the company’s fiscal 2009 at US$21.6 million, based on a breakdown provided in a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That was down from US$51.1 million in fiscal 2008.
Iger’s wallet took an even bigger hit during the fiscal year ending Oct. 3 than Disney’s shareholders. The Burbank company’s stock fell by 15 percent during fiscal 2009, although the shares have since rallied almost all the way back to where they were at the end of fiscal 2008. The stock added US$0.12 to finish Wednesday at US$32.43.
Disney’s financial performance suffered in fiscal 2009 as the recession crimped attendance at the company’s amusement parks and reduced advertising on its television networks, which include ABC and ESPN.
Its revenue for this year fell 4 percent to US$36.1 billion, while earnings sagged 25 percent to US$3.3 billion.
Nearly half of Iger’s compensation this year came in the form of stock awards designed to give him an incentive to boost the company’s future performance.
Disney valued the stock incentives at US$9.5 million at the time they were given, but they could be worth much more or less depending on how the company’s stock fares. In fiscal 2008, Iger’s stock awards were valued at US$34.5 million.
The large gap between Iger’s stock-based compensation in the past two years accounted for the bulk of his compensation decrease in fiscal 2009.
Iger partially offset his reduced 2009 pay by reaping US$9.7 million from exercising 457,289 stock options that he accumulated in previous years.
The Associated Press values executive compensation packages based salary, bonuses, perquisites, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.
The calculations frequently differ from the totals listed by the reporting companies in the summary compensation table of proxy statements because those figures include accounting charges from the previous fiscal year.
Disney’s proxy pegs Iger’s compensation for this year at US$29 million.
Besides stock awards, most of Iger’s remaining pay consisted of a US$2.04 million salary and US$9.3 million in performance-based bonuses.
Both those amounts were down from fiscal 2008 when Iger pocketed a US$2 million salary and US$13.9 million in performance-based bonuses.
Iger got perquisites totaling US$741,601 in fiscal 2009, a decline of about US$32,000 from the previous year. Security costs of US$589,102 represented the biggest part of the 2009 perks, followed by a US$132,374 bill for Iger’s personal air travel.
Disney could have paid Iger a bonus for this year of as much as US$10 million, but the company limited the payout to reflect the tough year, the proxy said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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