CEO Robert Iger

Robert Iger, Walt Disney Co.'s chief executive, absorbed a 58 percent compensation cut in 2009, brought on by the entertainment company's struggles during the worst recession in more than 70 years. The Associated Press valued Iger's pay package for the company's fiscal 2009 at $21.6 million, based on a breakdown provided in a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That was down from $51.1 million in fiscal 2008. Iger's wallet took an even bigger hit during the fiscal year ending Oct. 3 than Disney's shareholders. The Burbank company's stock fell by 15 percent during fiscal 2009, although the shares have since rallied ... Read Full Story

The Walt Disney Co. completed its US$4.24-billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. on Thursday, bringing Spider-Man, Iron Man and 5,000 other characters under the same roof as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Marvel shareholders approved the acquisition earlier Thursday as expected. Marvel chief executive Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, who owned 37 per cent of Marvel stock, supported it. He will oversee the Marvel business and report to Disney CEO Robert Iger. Iger said the deal can help Disney grow revenue and profits, saying in a statement, "the creative and business potential of this combination is substantial." Marvel shareholders received $30 per share in cash, plus ... Read Full Story

Roy E. Disney, the son and nephew of The Walt Disney Co. founders who twice led shareholder revolts that shook up the family business, died Wednesday. He was 79. The Walt Disney Co. announced that Disney died in Newport Beach, Calif., after a bout with stomach cancer. Although he generally stayed out of the spotlight, Roy Disney didn't hesitate to lead a successful campaign in 1984 to oust Walt Disney's son-in-law after concluding he was leading the company in the wrong direction. Nearly 20 years later, he launched another successful shareholders revolt, this time against Michael Eisner, the man he'd helped bring in after ... Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney Co. founder Walt Disney and a longtime executive for the company, has died, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website on Wednesday. The Times reported that Disney, who had been ill with cancer, died on Wednesday morning at the age of 79. Representatives for the Walt Disney Co. could not immediately be reached for comment. Roy Disney, who was born in Los Angeles and began working for the company in the 1950s, is best known for leading a shareholder revolt to remove then-chairman and CEO Michael Eisner. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Editing by ... Read Full Story

The Walt Disney Co. posted a surprise 18 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings Thursday and announced an executive job switch that pointed to an eventual successor to Chief Executive Robert Iger. Iger, 58, said he was behind the decision to turn Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs into the parks and resorts chairman, while making parks chairman Jay Rasulo the new CFO. Staggs, 49, is well respected among Wall Street analysts and had been in his job for 11 years. Rasulo, 53, has pushed a theme park expansion into China and the construction of two new cruise ships, and has been in his current job ... Read Full Story