Disney CEO Bob Chapek saw his total compensation more than double in fiscal 2021 compared with 2020, to $32.5 million, according to a new SEC filing.
The longtime Disney executive is about to enter the third and final year of his current contract as CEO. He took over for Bob Iger, who segued to a stint as executive chairman before wrapping up his four-decade run at Disney and ABC at the end of last month. Iger’s total compensation reached $45.9 million in 2021, up from $21 million the year before. His base salary remained $3 million, the same level as in his last year as CEO, 2019.
Chapek, a former senior executive in the company’s theme parks, consumer products and home entertainment divisions, took the helm of Disney just as the coronavirus pandemic started to hit with full force. He steered the company through a period of dramatically reduced revenue as Covid forced the closure of parks and resorts as well as movie theaters, with live sports also taking a lengthy and costly break.
One reason for the dramatic jumps for all top execs from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2021 is that they did not receive bonuses in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021, Chapek’s focus turned toward leading the company through a period when vaccines meant Covid wouldn’t have to keep the world shut down entirely. While it scored a few significant film and TV hits and reliable revenue drivers like ESPN returned to action, some of Chapek’s strategic moves came under greater scrutiny as the options multiplied. (Premier Access, for example, a premium streaming release window developed amid widespread theater closures in 2020, was deployed for multiple 2021 film releases.)