The Disney heirs have once again turned their guns on their own company.
On Monday night local time, Disney heiress Abigail Disney called for consumers to stay away from businesses that treat employees badly, including Disney. In her view, Disney's pushing prices on the park to ridiculous levels is "abusing and exploiting customers" just as they treat employees.
This isn't the first time Abigail has stood up against Disney. On April 21, 2019, Abigail shelled Disney CEO Robert Lger for his high salary, "I have to say, Egger's salary is very indecent." Egger's total annual salary of $65 million in 2018 is 1,424 times the median income of Disney employees, and Abigail said Disney should give half of its executive bonus to the lowest 10 percent of Disney's 200,000 employees.
During a secret visit three months later, when she heard from Disney employees that some employees needed to rummage through the garbage heap left by others, Abigail, 59, once again drew her anger to Disney. On the other hand, Disney denied Abigail's claims: "This widely reported gimmick grossly and unfairly exaggerates the facts." For this reason, the two sides have met several times.
The moment that made Abigail completely erupt was in 2020. At that time, the new crown epidemic swept through the United States, most of Disneyland's business stopped, the company decided to lay off nearly half of the staff, that is, 100,000 people, in order to save $500 million in expenses, CEO Egger said that he would give up all salaries during the epidemic.
According to CNN Business, Egger's total revenue for the year was $47.52 million, still more than 900 times the median Disney employee income. In response to a tweet, Disney said executives had accepted pay cuts to save the company cash during the crisis, but they could still receive bonuses. Abigail tweeted after Egger, "Even if you have only the slightest bit of empathy, you should give back part of the money to the company." ”
It is worth noting that although Abigail is one of Disney's heirs, she does not hold a position at Disney and does not have a voice. But she often held grudges against Disney employees, firing frequently at her family on social networking sites and talk shows, especially after 2019. According to Abigail, "I am only an avid citizen, but I am also the heir, bearing the Disney name, and my conscience does not allow me to stand idly by." ”
In her early twenties, Abigail went to Disneyland for the first time and saw the town clean and happy. When my uncle Walt Disney built this place, he repeatedly emphasized the principle of dream chasing — "dream, faith, courage, action." And from the moment she glimpsed the real situation of Disney employees, the dream created by her grandfather Roy Disney and uncle Walt Disney was shattered.
In July 2019, a Disney employee left a message for Abigail via Facebook about his tragic situation at Disney. Abigail decided to go undercover and go to Disney for himself.
"I was very angry when I came out of there because my grandfather taught me to honor the people who took your ticket and poured you soda, they are the secret of success." She remembered that when her grandfather was alive, the people he had hired could work happily there for the rest of their lives, and he would not agree to the current working conditions at Disney. Afterwards, Abigail wrote to the shareholders complaining.
At Disneyland, the employee she spoke to mentioned, "When I have to forage in other people's garbage, I don't know how to force a smile." After a sneak peek at Disney, Abigail discovered that many Disney employees pretended to be happy at work, but in fact, they might not even have enough to eat.
The similar plight of employees can also be seen in Shanghai Disneyland. According to the Beijing News, Shanghai Disney cast members usually wear costumes of more than 15 kilograms and perform for more than 15 minutes, because they are too heavy, it is difficult to do every action, and they must keep smiling even in direct sunlight. But at the same time, they did not enjoy Disney's development dividends.
This is related to the two-tier work system that Disney began to implement in 1998. Employees who were hired before December 31, 1998, received a salary increase of 85%, after which only 54%. Even from 2000 to 2017, the average hourly wage for Disneyland employees fell by 15 percent, from $15.8 to $13.36.
Executives, by contrast, are taking sky-high annual salaries and bonuses. Since 1978, the compensation of Disney CEOs has increased by 937%, while the compensation of ordinary employees has increased by only 11.2%. "As billions of dollars fall into the pockets of companies, they typically don't spend it on employees, but on buying back shares and giving it to executives." Abigail said.
However, Abigail's allegations were also refuted by Disney, which responded that 90% of CEO compensation is performance-based and that Egger "creates extraordinary value for shareholders." At this point, even Abigail has emailed Egger praising, "By any measure, you're a great CEO, and probably even the greatest CEO in America right now." ”
But Iger's high income still makes Abigail incomprehensible, and there is nothing wrong with rewarding executives, but grassroots employees should not be ignored. "The CEO's salary is 500, 600, 700 times the median wage of an employee, and Jesus will not be paid that much." Abigail told CNBC.
In Abigail's ideal world, Disneyland employees could make enough money to own a house and get decent health care. She has proposed putting half of executive bonuses into a dedicated trust fund to help workers with urgent needs such as insulin, housing, transportation and childcare; restoring employees' free access to the park because they can't afford to take their families to the "happiest place in the world," all contrary to the original intentions of her grandparents.
"I've been quietly complaining about this issue for some time now, unsure how to make it public. It's time to call on the men and women who lead us, not to let the hard-working people sink, but for executives to bring home more huge sums of money. That time she saw the tragic situation of the employees, she firmly believed against the current situation of Disney.
Abigail is the niece of Disney founder Walt and the granddaughter of co-founder Roy Disney, but she does not work for the company.
In fact, since the death of Abigail's father Edward in 2003, the Disney company has not been managed by anyone from the Disney family, and for the next dozen years, the company has been mainly ceoed by professional manager Egger. Under his care, Disney reversed the chaotic situation of family management and successfully created a series of works out of the circle.
In addition to the poor state of the company's operations, another reason why walt wants his descendants to avoid the family business and not be touched by money. Abigail, as a niece, is no exception.
At the time of Walt's death, he held a 14 percent stake in Disney, of which 45 percent was left to his wife and daughter, his sister and niece, and 10 percent divided, and the remaining 45 percent went to the Disney Charities Trust. Most of these estates are inherited in family trusts, such as three of Walt's grandchildren who receive 20% ($20 million) of the trust assets every five years after they each turn 35.
According to a 2006 Forbes magazine, Abigail's father, Edward, had a personal fortune of $1.2 billion. As one of Edward's two sons and daughters, Abigail received a large fortune and a small number of shares left by her family at the age of 21. Before June 5, 2019, no one knew the exact amount of this wealth. Later, she told the Financial Times: "Let me put it bluntly, I have about $120 million, and I've been there for a while. ”
However, Abigail did not live a lavish life like Walt's granddaughter Victoria, sitting on the mountain and eating in the air, but had her own career. Even though Abigail grew up in the Hollywood star heap, she didn't like the entertainment industry, graduating from Yale and Stanford before completing her Ph.D. in New York to prepare her thesis during her honeymoon.
After that, she started volunteering at some non-profit organizations (NGOs). With enthusiasm, intelligence, and fame, Abigail quickly advanced the organization's fundraising efforts, and soon she began serving on the boards of 12 non-profit organizations, focusing on the needs of women, children and others. She also founded the Daphne Foundation with her husband, which provides grant support to organizations that work for women.
Not only that, but Abigail has also achieved something in film. In 2007, she founded Fokker Pictures to create a documentary called "Pray the Devil Returns to Hell," which focuses on the role of women in war. The film won many awards, was screened in 60 countries around the world, and grossed $90,000 at the box office. Later, he created films such as "Armor of Light", which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary on Social Issues.
On Wikipedia' main profile, Abigail is a filmmaker, philanthropist, social activist, and the identity of the Disney family needs to be swiped down a few times to see.
Abigail is not only against Disney, she is even against herself.
Before an interview with the Financial Times in 2019, Abigail declined to say how much wealth he owned. Until June of that year, she and 18 other super-rich people signed an open letter to presidential candidates, saying the group supported the government's wealth tax on the rich and suggested that the money and the revenues generated be used to tackle climate change and improve public health care. On the list, Soros is also impressively listed.
At one point, Abigail's huge fortune of $120 million unnerved and even plunged into severe self-doubt. Years later, she saw a report by proPublica, an independent investigative media outlet, which said that super-rich people like Musk, Bezos, Buffett and others were using legal means to pay less tax.
She was shocked that billionaires could make money sitting on the couch, taxes were too low, and ordinary people went out and worked hard to barely make ends meet. "How can billionaires be at ease when their wealth is built on a social structure that keeps millions of people in constant panic about food, shelter, health care, and other basic needs?"
Her sense of morality prevented her from turning a blind eye to the huge gap between rich and poor. In 2012, she announced that she was donating her family's stake in a skincare company called Ahava. Over the past 30 years, she has donated $70 million and is planning new donation programs. Other members of the Disney family are also quite dedicated to charity, making generous donations to the Children's Hospital and the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Just days before Abigail called on consumers to stay away from Disney, Abigail and 102 other global super-rich people, including Abigail's brother Tim Disney, Amazon's early investor Nick Hannor, and others, formed a "millionaire" group and proposed an initial tax plan, calling on those worth more than $5 million to pay wealth taxes.
"Most of us can say that despite the tremendous pain the world has experienced over the past two years and we've actually seen our wealth grow during the pandemic, almost no one can honestly say that we paid fair taxes." If their programs are implemented, the authorities could collect an additional $2.5 trillion in taxes each year, which is expected to help lift more than 2 billion people out of poverty.
Walt had aspired to build a large theme park, one of "the happiest places on earth," and packed all the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and The Seven Dwarfs he had created. He poured all his talents and energies into the operation of this paradise, even if he was opposed by many people, including his own brother.
Walt wanted "every captain to behave like they were on board for the first time on every cruise." Every time the hippos suddenly emerge from the water, they should behave in surprise. The captain should be as surprised as the tourists. Before the park was built, Walter died of lung cancer. The Disneyland he built began to scatter around the world and became a symbol of fairy tales.
Now, Abigail is pinning his hopes on external criticism to preserve the fairytale paradises left by his uncle.
Resources:
1. Abigail Disney: "I chose to be a traitor to our class, the Financial Times
2. Abigail Disney is not interested in the story of Cinderella, Forbes
3. Heir to the Disney Family: I was taught from a young age how to protect my dynasty wealth and try not to pay taxes, Plus America Finance
4. Disney heiressesses are furious after "lurking" in the amusement park: many employees can't afford to live, Tencent Securities
5. Disney's 100,000 employees are on unpaid leave, and the heirs angrily scold the company for "double standard", the surging news
6. Rich but inferior, avoiding corporate affairs but keen on charity... Hidden behind the entertainment empire of the Disney family, the founding state
7. The history of the Disney family: inheritance is not a fairy tale, flying wisdom and enjoyment
8. A hundred "patriotic billionaires" jointly shouted to the governments of the country: Tax us! , CBN
9. Stories outside fairy tales are also "deceptive", Beijing News