Disney directors give themselves raise Chairman Mitchell gets $500,000 in stock grants annually
LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) - Walt Disney Co. directors voted themselves a pay raise and determined that Chairman George Mitchell should get annual compensation of $500,000 in stock, the company disclosed Friday.
Non-management directors will get $65,000 as an annual retainer, a 44 percent hike from the $45,000 they were getting, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Directors no longer will receive individual meeting fees of $1,000 but instead will get an annual retainer of $10,000 for each committee on which they serve.
Committee chairs will get an additional retainer of $15,000, up from the prior $3,500 annual fee. Stock grants amounting up to $15,000 will be awarded to each director on a quarterly basis, and up to 6,000 in options are available annually.
Directors at the entertainment giant voted for the compensation increases at a June 29 meeting.
"The new arrangements were approved after extensive consideration of board compensation practices at other large public companies and consultation with the board's independent compensation consultant," the company said in its filing, "and are intended to bring the board's compensation practices into line with those of the company's peers."
A Disney spokesman said the company's compensation for board members was in a low percentile when compared with other firms of a similar size.
The $500,000 going to Mitchell will be credited in $125,000 quarterly installments and is payable only in Disney stock grants. With all stock compensation, directors must retain half the value of the shares they have received until they leave the board. With options, the vesting period is five years.
The compensation for Mitchell is retroactive to March 3, the day the Disney board stripped Chief Executive Michael Eisner of that title and handed it to him.
That was hours after Disney's contentious annual meeting in which more than 45 percent of company shareholders voted to remove Eisner from the board.
Roughly a quarter of Disney shareholders wanted to oust Mitchell, and all directors were targeted for removal by at least 13 percent or more of Disney investors.
While the board's action comes a few months after that meeting, it didn't seem to spark any initial outrage among Disney followers. Dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold -- who campaigned to remove Eisner, Mitchell and board members Judith Estrin and John Bryson -- declined to comment on the pay hike.
Bruce Barren, a Los Angeles-based compensation consultant, called all of the changes "reasonable."
"They're all reasonable changes. There's nothing extraordinary about those right now," Barren said.
The more contentious issue is pay for such Disney executives as Eisner and President Robert Iger while the company's operating profits are low, he added.
"I think that's where you get into a real question," Barren said.
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I'll give Mitchell a raise for sure. . . :fork:
LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) - Walt Disney Co. directors voted themselves a pay raise and determined that Chairman George Mitchell should get annual compensation of $500,000 in stock, the company disclosed Friday.
Non-management directors will get $65,000 as an annual retainer, a 44 percent hike from the $45,000 they were getting, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Directors no longer will receive individual meeting fees of $1,000 but instead will get an annual retainer of $10,000 for each committee on which they serve.
Committee chairs will get an additional retainer of $15,000, up from the prior $3,500 annual fee. Stock grants amounting up to $15,000 will be awarded to each director on a quarterly basis, and up to 6,000 in options are available annually.
Directors at the entertainment giant voted for the compensation increases at a June 29 meeting.
"The new arrangements were approved after extensive consideration of board compensation practices at other large public companies and consultation with the board's independent compensation consultant," the company said in its filing, "and are intended to bring the board's compensation practices into line with those of the company's peers."
A Disney spokesman said the company's compensation for board members was in a low percentile when compared with other firms of a similar size.
The $500,000 going to Mitchell will be credited in $125,000 quarterly installments and is payable only in Disney stock grants. With all stock compensation, directors must retain half the value of the shares they have received until they leave the board. With options, the vesting period is five years.
The compensation for Mitchell is retroactive to March 3, the day the Disney board stripped Chief Executive Michael Eisner of that title and handed it to him.
That was hours after Disney's contentious annual meeting in which more than 45 percent of company shareholders voted to remove Eisner from the board.
Roughly a quarter of Disney shareholders wanted to oust Mitchell, and all directors were targeted for removal by at least 13 percent or more of Disney investors.
While the board's action comes a few months after that meeting, it didn't seem to spark any initial outrage among Disney followers. Dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold -- who campaigned to remove Eisner, Mitchell and board members Judith Estrin and John Bryson -- declined to comment on the pay hike.
Bruce Barren, a Los Angeles-based compensation consultant, called all of the changes "reasonable."
"They're all reasonable changes. There's nothing extraordinary about those right now," Barren said.
The more contentious issue is pay for such Disney executives as Eisner and President Robert Iger while the company's operating profits are low, he added.
"I think that's where you get into a real question," Barren said.
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I'll give Mitchell a raise for sure. . . :fork:
