Walt Disney Company (The) management check
DIS · Communication Services · Movies & Entertainment · CEO Mr. Iger
Filings as of
2 good · 3 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $94, against $225 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.41 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.3% of net income$45.8m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $13.4bn of net income.
- n/a
Do they own the stock?
No recent CEO filingLight activity: no buys, $2.2m sold in six months. 4 of 5 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.5% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 1.4% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Mr. Chapek, Mr. Iger. 13 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Watch
Are the books clean?
An annual report was amendedNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021. 2 amended annual reports.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Communication Services.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 0 | 27 | |
| Pay for performance | 70 | 76 | |
| CEO cost | 89 | 72 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 75 |
| Dilution | 57 | 65 | |
| Stable leadership | 20 | 93 | |
| Clean books | 70 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Movies & Entertainment, by management score. Walt Disney Company (The) is 15th of 18 in its sector.
- 153LYVLive Nation Entertainment72
- 318NFLXNetflix60
- 352TKOTKO Group Holdings58
- 394VZVerizon54
- 417DISWalt Disney Company (The)51
- 452OMCOmnicom Group46
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed January 22, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Iger | $45.8m | $63.5m | $12.5m | $94 | $225 | $13.4bn |
| 2024 | Mr. Iger | $41.1m | $40.7m | $11.8m | $79 | $180 | $5.8bn |
| 2023 | Mr. Iger | $31.6m | $21.8m | $8.4m | $66 | $128 | $3.4bn |
| 2022 | Mr. Chapek | $24.2m | $2.1m | $11.8m | $77 | $97 | $3.5bn |
| 2021 | Mr. Chapek | $32.5m | $41.5m | $20.3m | $144 | $131 | $2.5bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted Total Segment Operating Income. Its other key measures: Adjusted Revenue, Adjusted After-Tax Free Cash Flow, Return on Invested Capital, Adjusted EPS Growth, TSR Performance Relative to the S&P 500 Media and Entertainment Index.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Light activity: no buys, $2.2m sold in six months. 4 of 5 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldBrent WoodfordEVP, Control, Fin Plan & Tax · 10b5-1 plan$1.8mOct 16, 2026
- SoldPaul M RoederSr EVP and Chief Comm Officer$382kAug 19, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Mar 20, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 24, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 3, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 12, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 7, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 16, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 1, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 21, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 19, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 9, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 24, 2024Annual report amended10-K/A
- Dec 22, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Mar 20, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $9.7bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 39% of net income, and $5.4bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $67.4bn | $82.7bn | $88.9bn | $91.4bn | $94.4bn |
| Net income | $2.0bn | $3.1bn | $2.4bn | $5.0bn | $12.4bn |
| Stock-based pay | $600.0m | $977.0m | $1.1bn | $1.4bn | $1.4bn |
| Buybacks | — | $0 | $0 | $3.0bn | $3.5bn |
| Dividends | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1.4bn | $1.8bn |
| Diluted shares | 1828m | 1827m | 1830m | 1831m | 1811m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.