![]() The company is expected to post earnings per share of 79 cents and revenue of $23.36 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.ĭeSantis is expected to run in the 2024 presidential election and be a front-runner for the GOP nomination ahead of former President Donald Trump. Now add in the new bill and things could be challenging for Disney moving forward.ĭisney reports first quarter financial results Wednesday after market close. Iger faces a battle with activist investors, disgruntled fans of previous management and a stock price that struggled. The new bill from DeSantis and the state of Florida could add to the troubles ahead of new Disney CEO Bob Iger, who returned to lead the company. Many Democratic politicians and critics have criticized the move by DeSantis to change policies that affect Disney as a form of retaliation for the company's public position against DeSantis’ supported law.įlorida Democratic State Representative Anna Eskamani called the new bill “a clear power grab by the governor.” “Disney works under a number of different models and jurisdictions around the world, and regardless of the outcome, we remain committed to providing the highest quality experience for the millions of guests who visit each year,” Walt Disney World Resort President Jeff Vahle said. “We’re not going to have a corporation controlling its own government,” DeSantis said last week.ĭeadline also reported that the new bill could strip Disney of powers like operating airport facilities, stadiums and arenas, from exploring a nuclear power plant and from having authority over certain roads and highways.ĭisney indicated on Tuesday that it was monitoring the legislation proposed by DeSantis. DeSantis pushed for changes involving the special district after Chapek's comments about the law, and despite Disney having a new CEO, DeSantis appears to be following through with his words. ![]() Why It’s Important: Previous Disney CEO Bob Chapek and DeSantis sparred over comments made about Florida legislation known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. ![]() Related Link: Exclusive: How Would People Vote In Biden Vs. DeSantis might also be allowed to appoint some members to the Reedy Creek board, giving him a political bragging point.Disney has largely had power over the land, public transportation, airports, fire and EMS of the area around the theme park, with the district created by the state legislature in 1967 ahead of the construction of Walt Disney World.ĭeSantis has spoken out about the special district and made it a priority to change the policy, which could potentially harm Disney. “Disney gets to decide what its priorities are as opposed to the county government deciding what the priorities should be.”Ī potential compromise under discussion, says the FT, would see Disney giving up the rights to build that plant and airport, which it was unlikely to use. “They can have their own nuclear plant-they can build their own airport if they want to,” Jim Clark, a professor of Florida history at University of Central Florida, told Fortune in April. The Reedy Creek district, granted in 1967, gives Disney extraordinarily broad rights to do basically whatever it wants on the lands it owns. Dissolution of the district, currently scheduled to happen in the summer of 2023, would saddle Florida with nearly $1 billion in bonded debt and likely would result in higher property taxes in the Orlando area to offset the loss of revenue from the district. The timing could have nothing to do with Iger, of course. That gives it a lot of pull, but Chapek’s poor handling of opposition to the bill (following outrage among workers at his silence and, ironically, Iger’s full-throated opposition when he was not affiliated with Disney) burned a lot of that political capital. “Chapek screwed up, but Bob Iger doesn’t have to own that screw-up.”ĭisney is one of Florida’s biggest employers, and had a $75.2 billion annual economic impact on central Florida in 2019. “It’s easier to shift policy when you don’t have to defend the old policy,” Randy Fine, the legislator who drafted the bill that stripped Disney’s control over the area, told the FT. Word of the action comes less than two weeks after Bob Iger regained control of Disney, displacing Bob Chapek, who angered Florida Governor Ron DeSantis when the entertainment giant voiced opposition to the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The Financial Times says officials are working on a compromise that would allow the state’s largest revenue producer and one of its top employers to once again tax itself to cover the costs of roads, fire services, power, and more in the area, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
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