Amid the leadership shake-up from the departure of Disney CEO Bob Chapek, filings from public company Walt Disney Co. have illustrated just how much money the fired CEO is making from his exit — and how much another top executive made from his short stints at the near the helm of the company.
Steven Ferdman / Contributor
Bob Chapek took over the CEO position February 2020 from Bob Iger, who was in the role from 2015 to 2020, but Chapek stepped down in November after a little under three years and a series of public missteps in November.
Related: Bob Iger Returns as Disney CEO and Bob Chapek Steps Down, Effective Immediately
Chapek’s “golden parachute” package, aka, a severance and departure financial package for an executive of a company, is worth over $20 million, according to Insider. That doesn’t include his compensation, which clocked in at a whopping $24.2 million (including health premiums), according to the company’s statements and public filings.
Chapek left the company after being alienated by Disney fans, who complained about price hikes at the parks and employees, who walked out in response to Disney’s approach to Florida’s “Don’t say gay” bill. Investors, meanwhile, were disappointed in the company’s financial performance this year.
But Chapek still gets his big payday. Per Insider, the fired CEO will receive about $12.7 million in company stock as well as a severance package of the remaining base salary and a pro-rated bonus for 2023 of a little over $1 million.
His total compensation for being CEO was 446 higher than the median employee of Disney, the company noted.
Who Is Geoff Morrell?
Another former top executive, Geoff Morrell, who served as the public affairs officer for the company from January 2022 to April 2022, made over $8 million in compensation, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Per the WSJ, Morrell also received roughly $500,000 in moving expenses (from London to Los Angeles), another $500,000 after he left the company, and was hired at a base salary of $489,500 with a $2.75 million bonus for starting at the company.
Put another way, the outlet calculated, Morrell made $119,505 a day, not including the payouts he got as part of his deal to leave the company.
In late April, per the outlet, he said, “After three months in this new role, it has become clear to me that for a number of reasons it is not the right fit.”
Disney also purchased the home in California Morrell bought for the same price he paid for it, (about $4.5 million). It will sell it and take the possible losses or gains on the sale, as the outlet noted.
