HUGE BONUSES TO DISNEY EXECUTIVE TEAM
All Those Zeroes
Execs at the Mouse House, most of whom did not receive a bonus a year ago because of the company's poor performance, earned a collective $33.6 million during the 2000 fiscal year, according to the company's proxy statement released Friday.
Bonuses were doled out because of improved results, largely due to the success of ABC and its popular "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" game show.
Topping the list was CEO Michael Eisner, who was awarded an $11.5 million bonus, bringing his overall compensation to $14.3 million, which includes $2 million in options in Disney's Internet operations.
Despite the improved results and the multimillion dollar payouts, Disney warned that its first-quarter results would be soft as Wall Street has hammered Disney's stock over concerns that the advertising market is dipping and about whether ABC can sustain "Millionaire's" huge ratings.
The proxy also showed that Eisner received his first raise in annual base pay since joining the company in 1984, going from $750,000 to $1 million.
Other top execs at the company scored as well. President Robert Iger received a $5 million bonus, bringing his total to $9.3 million, while recently departed Vice Chairman Sanford Litvack received $3.2 million, and CFO Thomas Staggs and Chief Strategist Peter Murphy nabbed $3.4 million each.
