What people forget in the debate over public company 'CEOs' is that, when the price of disney shares goes up from $24 to $135, that is millions upon millions of peoples retirements that are that much more secure. So, I mean, would you pay $66 million to someone for a better retirement for others?
Now, I don't know the answer to this question, but this way of looking at the stock price of public companies is often lost on people of all political persuasions.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, Iger 'only' made $3million last year. Most of the money reported as 'income' is actually stock grants. $66mln disney stock is not a controlling share, and -- by tying up Iger's wealth in the company -- it aligns his incentives with those of the wealth he has been charged with managing. Nevertheless, Iger couldn't sell this much stock without either being accused of insider trading (since such a large sale would surely manipulate the stock price), and the SECs regulations on insider trading are very strict (they prosecute based on the appearance of insider trading). Thus, given that he can't actually sell the disney stock, it's a real disservice to say he made $Xmillion in disney stock, given that the stock has no immediate cash value to him.
Now, I don't know the answer to this question, but this way of looking at the stock price of public companies is often lost on people of all political persuasions.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, Iger 'only' made $3million last year. Most of the money reported as 'income' is actually stock grants. $66mln disney stock is not a controlling share, and -- by tying up Iger's wealth in the company -- it aligns his incentives with those of the wealth he has been charged with managing. Nevertheless, Iger couldn't sell this much stock without either being accused of insider trading (since such a large sale would surely manipulate the stock price), and the SECs regulations on insider trading are very strict (they prosecute based on the appearance of insider trading). Thus, given that he can't actually sell the disney stock, it's a real disservice to say he made $Xmillion in disney stock, given that the stock has no immediate cash value to him.