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Disney heir Abigail Disney, daughter of Roy Disney and great-niece of Walt, has called out her namesake corporation’s skewed financial priorities during the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, many companies have experienced varying degrees of financial impact. Some have been forced to furlough workers. Even Disney, one of the biggest and wealthiest companies on the planet, has chosen to temporarily lay off its ground-level employees for the foreseeable future.
Affected workers include staffers at studios like Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel, but the vast majority of impacted employees are from Disney’s lucrative theme parks and resorts, which are currently closed down entirely. Furloughed employees will still receive health benefits (at least, those who qualify for them already), but will go without pay until the company decides otherwise. The furloughs are expected to save the company roughly $500 million per month, but executive-level bonuses at Disney are currently unaffected, leaving some wondering why the company is forcing its low-level employees to seek federal assistanc, when Disney itself has roughly $20 billion in liquidity to keep its workers fed and sheltered.
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One person with a bone to pick with these financial arrangements is Abigail Disney, one of the more high-profile Disney heirs. Though she does not hold any official position at the company, her last name arguably means more to Disney’s legion of fans than any executive title ever could. She’s called out the executive bonus program and potential upcoming dividend payments, which will see untold millions go to the richest employees at Disney, while the poorest are currently being forced to seek out government assistance in order to pay rent and eat a warm dinner. In a 22-tweet thread, Disney picks apart the company’s financial chess moves and why these moves are enriching those at the company who are already wealthy, all at the expense of the poorest employees.
WHAT THE ACTUAL F***????? Look, dividends aren’t ALL bad, given the number of fixed income folks who rely on them. But still 80% of shares are owned by the wealthiest 10%. So that excuse only goes so far. But the REAL outrage is, of course, those bonuses…2/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
“Disney protected incentive schemes, which account for most of the executives’ remuneration. Mr Iger earned $65.6m in 2018 and $47m last year, The latest package is more than 900 times that of the median Disney worker’s earnings, which stands at about $52,000.” 4/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
Call attention to the fact that they were giving up a portion of their salaries for the year. I told people to wait until we heard about the rest of the compensation package, since salary is a drop in the bucket to these guys. The real payday is in the rest of the package 6/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
But it gets worse. The front line workers at the parks had to fight for years to get their pay bumped up to $15/hr and the pr folks touted that as incredible magnanimity on management’s park, but if you know the back story, which I do, you would be horrified to know just 8/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
being full time) 52 weeks a year (again a big if, esp since they don’t have paid sick days unless they get 40 hours, which, see above parenthetical statement) they pull down 31,200 per year. Sounds nice till you consider gas prices and the housing market in Orange County 10/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
And 173x his median workers pay, plus another 15MM over the long term. What kind of person is comfortable with this??? If you have a shred of empathy in your body, if you care even a little about your employees, if you believe a word of your nice rhetoric about how, 12/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
THIS COMPANY MUST DO BETTER. Disney faces a rough couple of years, to be sure. The challenges are existential, even. But that does not constitute permission to continue pillaging and rampaging by management. In fact, if a bonus reflects performance, we might want to claw 14/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
But ANYONE, could have anticipated SOME crisis. That’s one of the things responsible managers do. And good, solid, competent management is why they get the “big bucks” we are told. But those buybacks are beginning to look pretty self indulgent right now 16/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
And therein lies another piece of terrible management, worse even the buy backs and the compensation. They have consistently tried to PR their way through a series of messes of their own making, and that will only last for so long. 18/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
sit by when I see abuses taking place with that name attached to them. This isn’t all that hard. This isn’t all that complicated. Just give up SOME of your already ample compensation, especially this year. Give up, god forbid two or three basis points on the annual return 23/
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
is always an opportunity for change. Reassess this mess you’ve made of the good will you got handed on which you depend more than you like to admit. And pay the people who make the magic happen with respect and dignity they have more than earned from you. BE DECENT. END
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) April 21, 2020
This isn’t the first time Abigail Disney has taken the Disney company to task; in 2019, she criticized outgoing CEO Bob Iger for his astronomical income. During the current coronavirus pandemic, Iger has forgone the remainder of his $3 million salary for the rest of 2020, but it’s merely a symbolic gesture when the majority of his income comes from regular bonuses that add up to tens of millions of dollars per year (in 2018, he earned $66 million in compensation).
Abigail Disney is making a simple point. Disney is one of the wealthiest companies in the world, and ground level workers shouldn’t suffer while its executives rake in millions of dollars. If the decision-makers have a shred of decency and compassion, they’ll do what is necessary to make right this situation that has gone so horribly wrong for the hardworking people who make Disney magic every day. What they’re doing now is not enough, at least according to Abigail Disney.
Source: Abigail Disney
