Bob “Paycheck” Got Paid! Former CEO Made Over 400 Times the Average Disney Employee

It seems former Disney CEO Bob Chapek isn’t quite out of the news just yet… Disney’s annual meeting notice filing has revealed some unfortunate truths about the pay disparity between high-level executives and “median employees.”

Bob Chapek can’t seem to catch a break. The former CEO was embroiled in controversy after controversy until his ousting in November of last year; one that took all of us by surprise. Over the last few months, Disney has also been involved in a shakeup and apparent clean-up of the company. But with the recent revelation of his payout, perhaps the standard that the Disney community held him to (which many argue he didn’t meet) was well warranted.

Disney’s finances have been flooding headlines recently. Whether it’s for how much their legal counsel makes or for former homeless Cast Members speaking out against Disney fighting the unions—note, of course, that at the end of these union negotiations, Disney offered to raise Cast Member salary by a whopping $1.

Combining this with all the price hikes from last year and the extravagant cost of a Disney vacation in 2023, we have found ourselves asking what the deal with Disney and Disney Parks financial situation really is.

Well, we have some answers—but with that only comes more questions. Journalist Scott Gustin shared highlights from Disney’s annual meeting notice filing and noted that 2022 was a record year for the Parks, Experiences and Products where they “achieved the segment’s highest full year revenue, operating income and margin.”

Disney Genie, Genie+, Lightning Lane, Disney Wish from Disney Cruise Line, and Disneyland Paris Avengers Campus were particularly highlighted:

In its annual meeting notice filing, Disney highlighted a record year for Parks, Experiences and Products "achieving the segment’s highest full year revenue, operating income and margin."

Genie, Genie+, Lightning Lane, Disney Wish and DLP Avengers Campus are highlighted. pic.twitter.com/HHzwAwjHaM

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) January 17, 2023

But the Disney Parks doing well was news that we reported on at the end of Disney’s fourth quarter as well. So what’s new about this update?

Well, as Gustin underscores in the following tweet,

Also in the filing, Disney revealed the “median employee” works a full-time hourly role in parks, has been with the company for 11+ years, and makes $54,256 in fiscal 2022. For fiscal 2022, Chapek’s total annual compensation was $24,198,254 — a ratio of 446 to 1.

And this isn’t all for Chapek. Per Gustin, “the former CEO is entitled to $6.5 million in remaining base salary, $1 million in a pro-rated bonus, and $12.6 million in ‘accelerated restricted stock units,’ which brings the total exit payout to roughly $20 million.”

While it does bear mentioning that the final numbers show that Disney lost $120 billion in 2022, it’s still worth noting the enormous pay differential between the higher-level executives and Cast Members working on the ground.

We at Disney Fanatic will continue to report on all Disney news.