Big news for the Walt Disney Company! Josh D’Amaro has been announced as the new Chief Executive Officer, and Dana Walden will become the President and Chief Creative Officer, as current CEO Bob Iger steps down and retires.
©Disney
Disney has revealed the pay packages for the new executives, and Variety is breaking down what each one is getting.
D’Amaro will have an annual base salary of $2.5 million. He will then be eligible for an annual, performance-based bonus with a target equal to 250% of that annual base salary. For each fiscal year that D’Amaro serves as CEO, he will also be given a long-term stock incentive of $26.2 million. D’Amaro will also receive a one-time long-term incentive award with a target value of $9.7 million due to this promotion.
Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Josh D’Amaro at the 2023 Destination D23 fan convention.
Walden is entering into an employment agreement set to expire in March 2030 with an annual base salary of $3.75 million. She will also be eligible for an annual, performance-based bonus with a target equal to 200% of that annual base salary. Walden will receive a long-term stock award of $15.75 million for each full fiscal year during her president and CCO tenure. She will also receive a one-time, long-term incentive award valued at $5.26 million for her promotion.
Dana Walden ©Disney
With the bonus, D’Amaro’s initial annual package will be around $38 million, and Walden’s will be about $24 million.
Josh D’Amaro at Destination D23, 2023 ©Disney
Both D’Amaro and Walden will start their positions on March 18th at The Walt Disney Company’s annual meeting. Iger will transition to serving as a senior advisor to the Disney board until his official retirement in December 2026.
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Actually, D’Amaro’s potential annual earnings is $32.45 million per year, depending on if he hits his targets. The first year includes a one time incentive of an additional $9.7 million, bringing his first year potential to $42.15 million
Walden’s potential annual earnings is $23.25 million, depending on if she hits her targets. She also gets a one time incentive. Hers is $5.26 million, for a total first year potential of $28.51 million.
Neither of them is going to wonder where their next meal is coming from. lol!
Nice to see the top execs are paid very well. Now let’s see if they can raise the stock price of the company that is falling like a rock. The people who invested in Disney stock over the last several years lost their shirts.
Some Disney fans will complain about their salary, but it’s common with most CEO’s of any billion dollar company. I fdo ind it funny that people complain about that Disney expensive and prices keep going up. But so is every thing else we pay for. Some people still want 1990s pricing. Sorry my friends, it’s not going to happen. Just like everything else we buy, prices will always go up, but never down.
Now that I see what the top dogs are earning i will look forward to some good disney offers and incentives.
Disney obviously has plenty of money.
The rich get richer, and everyone else pays the bill. Sorry middle class America, but this is what happens.
Chump change! I haven’t added it up yet, but I’m sure my Social Security is up there somewhere.
It’s great to know that’s where all the price increases go, I hope the new group spreads the wealth, but I won’t hold my breath. They are certainly not paying the front line cast members more that 20-25 per hour and that’s if you have been there at least several years, even the mid management who also work their tails off in the heat and cold and those cast members you see every day who get to make the experiences that guests expect and solve problems. The average cast members don’t get any bonuses, no matter how good things go, they are happy to get health insurance if they are lucky enough to get full-time (they like to keep cast members part-time to avoid paying any benefits). Those at the top certainly deserve a great paycheck, but how many houses, jets, yachts, and cars does a person actually need to be well off when the average Disney worker can hardly make enough to buy one house and a maybe a used car. Just corporate greed. Those at the top take care of themselves, it does not matter what the company name is.