Bob Iger's Success At Disney: New Document Reveals CEO's Biggest Wins According To The Man Himself

Many companies hold reviews, including self-evaluations, to check the performance of employees and management. A recent legal battle reveals the self-evaluation of Walt Disney Company DIS CEO Bob Iger, who led the company for 15 years before stepping down in 2020.

Here's what Iger, who rejoined the company as CEO in November 2022, had to say about himself in 2019.

What Happened: A court case against Disney over equal pay for women has revealed the self-evaluation Iger completed to share his accomplishments in 2019.

Iger evaluated himself to gain board approval for a bonus payout and 2020 base salary.

Among the highlights listed in the document, shared by The Hollywood Reporter, are:

• Disney's share price went from $116.94 to $148.72 from the start of 2019 to November 2019.
• The record-breaking box-office performance of "Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King” and "Toy Story 4."
• The acquisition of 21^st Century Fox
• Taking operating control of Hulu
• Increasing original content for the Disney+ streaming platform
• The launch of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at theme parks

Iger's evaluation came around the time Disney+ was launched and shares were trading near all-time highs.

"We successfully executed a highly-anticipated Investor Day providing an extensive overview of all of our direct-to-consumer offerings, launched an unprecedented company-wide marketing effort, and tested the BAMTech platform in The Netherlands to positive reviews," Iger said at the time.

The Disney board approved a compensation recommendation from a committee that reviewed the self-evaluation, according to the report. The board approved Iger’s compensation package of $47.5 million after the evaluation. This made him one of the top-paid executives in America.

Related Link: Disney Q4 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Miss, Earnings Beat, Disney+ Adds 7 Million Core Subscribers And More

Why It's Important: When Iger replaced Bob Chapek in 2022, shareholders hoped that past company success would follow.

However, Disney shares hit nine-year lows earlier this year and are down 15% over the last five years.

Iger's 2019 self-evaluation reveals a success story, both for Disney's organizational health and its share price. But 2023 is anything but.

Several business units are currently struggling. And Iger is feuding with the world's richest man, Elon Musk, as well as activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Peltz's Trian recently announced it was nominating Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to Disney' Board of Directors.

"As Disney's largest active shareholder, we can no longer sit idly by as the incumbent directors and their hand-picked replacements stand in the way of necessary change, and peers and competitors continue to outperform," Peltz said.

The 2019 box office saw Disney hit over $10 billion worldwide. The company had seven of the top 10 grossing movies.

Disney hit the $1 billion milestone with seven of its films that year based on worldwide gross.

In 2023, Disney failed to hit the $1 billion milestone for the first time since 2014, outside the pandemic-impacted 2020 and 2021. The company also has four of the top 10 grossing movies domestically and worldwide. Its top film ranks fourth in both markets.

Disney brought Iger back to help steer the ship. After all, his previous 15-year stint saw many success stories (i.e., acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Fox and Lucasfilm).

Iger received $27 million contract in 2022 and saw a two-year extension signed earlier this year. He’s expected to lead the company into 2026.

The activist battle and continued criticism of Iger could be a huge storyline to watch heading into 2024. Time will tell what Iger's next self-evaluation could look like.

DIS Price Action: Disney shares trade at $93.78 versus a 52-week trading range of $78.73 to $118.18.

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Image: Photo by nagi usano on Flickr