AP:
Disney CEO Iger's pay up 30 pct in 2010

[January 29, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Walt Disney Co. has awarded CEO Bob Iger a 2010 pay package valued at $28 million, up 30 percent from a year ago, according to an Associated Press analysis of data disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday. The company said it is rewarding the 59-year-old Iger for excellent management in a tough economic environment.

The increase came as Disney's share price rose 24 percent to end the company's fiscal year on Oct. 2 at $32.98. Disney noted that the total shareholder return for the S&P 500 over the same period was just 14 percent by comparison.

During the year, Iger hired new managers for Disney's money-losing movie studio, quickly bringing it back to profitability. The studio completed the sale of the Miramax niche film label as Disney renewed its focus on its family fare from its own studio as well as Pixar and new acquisition Marvel. The Burbank, Calif.-based company also bought social game maker Playdom and mobile game developer Tapulous with an aim to reverse losses at its interactive unit, which recently went through a round of layoffs.

Fiscal 2010 net income rose 20 percent to $3.96 billion from $3.31 billion the year before, as revenue grew 5 percent to $38.06 billion.

Iger's base salary fell less than 2 percent to $2 million but his performance-related bonus surged 45 percent to nearly $13.5 million from $9.3 million a year ago. He was also granted stock options and awards valued at $11.8 million on the days they were granted, up from stock grants valued at $9.5 million the previous year.

His other compensation rose nearly 8 percent to $798,433, including personal use of company aircraft and security costs.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value that the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. Its calculation of total pay includes executives' salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards at the time they are granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals that companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

[Associated Press]

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