The Disney CEO More than Doubled His Salary this Year. Here’s Why.

We recently reported on the 2021 salaries for Disney CEO Bob Chapek and former CEO Bob Iger.

©Disney

According to the report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (which requires the salaries to be released since Disney is a publicly traded company), in 2021 Chapek made $32.46 million, and Iger made $45.9 million. These numbers are more than double the 2020 salaries, which were $14.1 million for Chapek and $21 million for Iger. Why the huge change in salaries? Let’s take a look.

One of the biggest reasons for the sudden jump in salary is that many Disney executives took significant pay cuts in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent closure of the Disney parks and many movie theaters. Iger made about $26.5 million less in 2020 than he did in 2019 (his 2019 salary totaled about $47.5 million).

Bob Iger presenting a model of Shanghai Disneyland

Another 2020 change was that Disney suspended “non-equity bonuses” in 2020, but they have since brought back the bonuses. Almost half of Chapek’s 2021 salary was supplied by such a cash bonus, to the amount of $14.3 million.

Bob Chapek

According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney’s share price has recovered from its low of $85.76 in 2020 “to more than $150 a share due in part to the rise of the Disney+ streaming service and the reopening of the company’s theme parks last year.” With guests returning to the parks and Disney+ on the rise, the Walt Disney Company is quickly recovering from the 2020 dip in entertainment earnings.

©Disney || Bob Chapek

The Wall Street Journal reports that the high salaries for Disney executives are not new. “Disney has historically offered some of the highest executive pay packages in the U.S.”

©Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

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