Disney held their annual shareholder meeting today, and as Chapek’s first, it was a bit of a wild ride. Iger and Chapek held court together, and this appeared to be far from the standard event.
Normally, these meetings are extremely polished. Up until the Q&A (when the crazy folks come out), everything goes without a hitch, and Iger is always a very polished presenter. Chapek seemed to be a bit nervous throughout the meeting, stumbling over his words – a stark contrast to his predecessor.
The Meeting Begins
Iger opened the meeting by teasing Chapek, telling him that “you’ll enjoy being CEO… I hope”. In fact, Iger took the lead for most of the meeting, likely sensing that Chapek was not quite ready to hold court. Shareholders viewed clips from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and were informed about the release dates of upcoming Disney+ content. Clips from Mulan, Jungle Cruise, West Side Story, and Black Widow were also shown.
Bob Chapek insisted that CMs have “opportunity for advancement in their fields.” This is a hot-button issue for cast members who often feel that they don’t understand how certain promotions are decided.
Bob Iger confirmed that Coronavirus is a concern for the company, “These are challenging times for everyone.” But Mr. Iger doesn’t want you to worry too much about the company, “What we’ve demonstrated over the years is that we’re incredibly resilient.”
The Announcements
Disney announced quite a bit of information at the annual shareholder meeting! Here’s a quick rundown:
- Dave Smith will get a Main Street window at Disneyland on June 22
- Disney has acquired the right to a The Beatles documentary
- Chapek confirmed that Stunttronics will be used at Avengers Campus
Results of Shareholder Proposals
- Election of Board of Directions – 92% approve
- Ratification of Pricewaterhouse Coopers – 96% approve
- Approval of executive compensation – 53% approve 46% against 1% abstain
It was somewhat shocking that the executive compensation package was nearly defeated. But also surprising that at a time of great risk to the company from Coronavirus (closed parks, declining attendance at open parks, fear of the public to go to the movies, etc.) that the company would push executive pay increases at all. But the proposal was approved and they’ll all get their raises.
- Stock plan vote – 91% approve
- Lobbying transparency proposal – Only 33% approve (rejected)
The Q&A… aka the circus
The Q&A portion of these events is always wild and completely unpredictable, as The Bobs fielded questions of all kinds. There was a cringeworthy cavalcade of stupid and embarrassing questions this year. But, often, Disney is able to spin a little gold regardless. Here’s a sampling from this time around:
- The very first question accused ABC of bias against Trump.
- Chapek responded by assuring that ABC is an objective news source and that Disney “takes action” against journalists who aren’t acting objectively.
- One question came from a shareholder who was upset about LGBT content in Disney movies and who did not want gay pride events at Disneyland. The questioner attributed Disney’s recent stock drop to this content.
- Chapek responded point blank: Coronavirus is the likely cause for the rapid decline in stocks and diversity will continue to be included in Disney efforts.
- The next question was all over the place: everything from Formula 1 coverage on ESPN, to maintenance declining at the parks, to being displeased with the finished product of Toy Story Land
- Both Bobs answered this one, mostly by saying the creative spark is alive throughout the company, and that they’ve increased capital expenditures throughout the parks. Notably, they mostly dodged the maintenance question as new construction and maintenance do not come from the same budget
- Iger: “we never tell our teams to build something cheap”
- The annual Song of the South question came up, and Iger dismissed it as he always does
- Chapek confirmed all G, PG, and PG13 films from any Disney-owned studio, including Fox, will not display smoking
- A WDW Cast Member asked about Cast housing, invoking EPCOT and wondering if Disney would build affordable housing for employees
- Chapek said that he will take it under advisement and moved on
- Chapek confirmed Disney did not acquire the Peanuts characters
- The final question: Will Disney get back into the gaming industry?
- Answer: Nope. They will continue to license
One More Thing…
Yep, there was a one more thing at a Disney meeting. Disney ended the meeting, then awkwardly reopened the meeting a few minutes later for a moment of applause for the new 7th CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Chapek. And then the meeting ended again.
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Let’s Hear From You
Disney stock was down about 8% at the writing of this article and continuing to fall. Since the start of the year, Disney has declined over 25% in value. Coronavirus impacts most segments of the company, from declining theme park and movie admissions to product manufacturing issues overseas. These are challenging times for the company. But Disney is not alone, the impacts of this global pandemic will be felt by most industries and all of Disney’s direct competitors.
What do you think? Will Bob Chapek be a good replacement for Bob Iger as Disney CEO? What do you foresee the impact of Coronavirus being on the Disney Company’s profits for the coming year? How has the pandemic changed your consumption of Disney’s various products and services? Let us know in the comments below.