Disney investors threaten to revolt over chief executives pay
Shareholders unhappy with chairman Bob Iger's rising compensation to vote no to his re-election
A revolution is brewing in the tree-lined streets of Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom, as shareholders prepare to fight the creeping power and rising rewards of the chairman and chief executive, Bob Iger.
The second largest pension fund in the US, the Californian teachers fund CalSTRS, which owns more than 5 million Disney shares, or 0.3 per cent of the company, said it would vote against Iger's re-election as chairman and Disney's executive pay packages at the company's annual meeting on Wednesday.
CalSTRS has had support from the Californian public sector workers pension fund CalPERS, which owns another 0.3 per cent of Disney, for its proposal to strip Iger of one of his roles.
In 2004 when Michael Eisner was in charge, the funds forced Disney to split the two top jobs. Disney agreed to appoint an independent chairman and to offer shareholders an explanation if it chose to give the post to a company executive. But in 2011 the company reversed that decision, paving the way for Iger to take full control last year.
British fund manager Hermes, which owns 5.7 million Disney shares, added its voice to the dissenting shareholders on Friday, saying it had "serious concerns" about Disney's leadership structure, the accountability of the board and its "flawed approach" to executive pay.