Disney Executive Earns Over $119,000 Per Day

The Walt Disney Company has seen a significant decrease in their stock, even by the standards of the entertainment industry.

Executive Geoff Morrell earned a substantial amount of money from his short stint in the film industry.

On January 24, 2022, Mr. Morrell began his tenure at Disney as the chief corporate-affairs officer. Unfortunately, his time with the company was short-lived, as he departed less than four months later due to a public-relations disaster that caused employee protests and created a rift between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as well as then-CEO Bob Chapek.

Over the course of 70 weekdays, Mr. Morrell earned a total of $8,365,403 in compensation, which works out to an average of $119,505 per day, as calculated from the proxy statement that Disney submitted on Tuesday.

When the compensation related to his severance package is calculated, the daily amount increases to $176,746.

Disney provided Mr. Morrell with a total of $1 million to relocate his family from London to Los Angeles and then to move away when he was no longer employed. After his departure, Disney purchased the $4.5 million home in southern California that Mr. Morrell had acquired, as stated in Disney's filing.

The disclosure of Mr. Morrell's salary has sparked fresh criticism of Disney's executive compensation, which activist investor Nelson Peltz has labeled as "excessive". Mr. Morrell's abrupt departure from Disney came after a period of upheaval for Mr. Chapek, who was unable to recover from the political repercussions and was let go in November.

The consequences of the company's management issues were made clear in Tuesday's filing, which was also a response to Mr. Peltz's request for a board seat and modifications to the company's operations.

Mr. Morrell was hired as the head of communications and government relations for the company, having previously worked in the Pentagon and at BP PLC. His experience outside of the Disney organization was a major factor in his selection.

He was given a base salary of $489,500 and a bonus of $2.75 million when he was hired to replace the compensation he was leaving behind at BP. Stock awards, options, and other compensation were expected to add an additional $5.1 million to his fiscal 2022 compensation. However, due to his shortened employment, the realized value of his fiscal 2022 compensation is estimated to be around $2 million less, as some performance-based payments did not vest, according to a source at Disney.

Not long after beginning their positions, Mr. Morrell and Mr. Chapek were faced with the debate over Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, which forbids teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity for kindergarten to third-grade students. Mr. Morrell and others suggested a strategy that would keep Disney away from the political argument, choosing not to take a stance on contentious matters like Robert Iger had done before.

Choosing not to support the bill and then voicing opposition to it caused Disney employees to become upset and made the company a target of Mr. DeSantis. Disney had managed to maintain its brand during the politically charged years prior, but this decision caused them to be criticized by both liberals and conservatives.

During his time at Disney, Mr. Morrell caused a stir internally due to a few missteps, one of which was when he mistakenly tweeted the confidential opening date of a "Guardians of the Galaxy" roller coaster.

According to Mr. Morrell, his departure from Disney is scheduled for April 29.

He expressed that after three months in his new role, it was evident that it was not the right fit for a variety of reasons.

Mr. Morrell is set to receive an additional sum of $4,006,849 as part of his severance package from the company. This includes an estimated $2.5 million for the remainder of his contract salary and a $1.5 million bonus for the 2022 fiscal year.

The proxy reported that Disney acquired the home that Mr. Morrell had bought in southern California. The company stated in the proxy that this was a typical practice for "relocation practices for special situations," and that a third-party vendor purchased the house for the same amount Mr. Morrell had paid.

In April 2022, Mr. Morrell made a purchase of a California Colonial home in Pasadena for a total of $4.5 million, according to public records.

Disney will be solely responsible for any profits or losses from the sale of the house, with Mr. Morrell not taking part in the transaction, according to the proxy. As of October last year, the house had not been resold.

Disney's proxy statement revealed that they had provided Mr. Morrell with an amount of $527,438 to move his family from London to Los Angeles. This amount was significantly higher than the amount paid to other Disney executives who relocated in 2022.

In 2022, two other executives with high positions were given relocation expenses. Paul Richardson, the chief human resources officer, was paid $125,021, and Horacio Gutierrez, the general counsel, was paid $81,246, as stated in the proxy.

On June 25, Disney provided Mr. Morrell with an additional payment of $506,310 to compensate for his special circumstances, such as his move away from the Los Angeles area. This payment was made two months after he had declared his intention to leave Disney.

The agreement is expected to reduce any further disruption to the business, the statement continued.

In November, Mr. Chapek was let go from Disney after failing to regain the support of some board members following the Florida situation. He had earned a total of $24 million in 2022. As part of his termination, he is eligible to receive approximately $6.5 million in the remaining base salary of his nearly three-year contract, as well as a $1 million target bonus for fiscal 2023, according to the proxy.

Recently, Mr. Morrell has returned to Washington, D.C. At the beginning of this month, Teneo Holdings LLC announced that he was taking on the position of president of global strategy and communications, a job that was newly established.