Disney Announces 2025 Annual Shareholders Meeting to Be Held Virtually on March 20

DCBaker7 days ago

Letter from Bob Iger: Dear Fellow Shareholders, Fiscal 2024 was a pivotal and successful year for The Walt Disney Company. Amid ongoing and unprecedented industry disruptions, we have emerged from a period of considerable challenges well positioned for growth and optimistic about our future. What has long set Disney apart is the way we successfully leverage our businesses to work seamlessly together to generate value. That was again the case this past fiscal year across our Entertainment, Sports and Experiences segments. We have reinvigorated our film studios, which are operating with renewed creative strength. Disney ranked number one at the global box office in 2024 with an impressive slate of films that generated $5.46 billion, including Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, both of which set new records. We were the first studio whose films surpassed $5 billion in box office sales worldwide since 2019 and have led the box office for eight of the past nine consecutive years. In television, our branded series and general entertainment programming have been performing exceptionally well, drawing new audiences and winning an unprecedented number of accolades in fiscal 2024, including a record-breaking 60 Emmy Awards. We continued to make progress toward turning our streaming businesses into significant growth drivers for the Company. This past year we delivered profitability for our streaming businesses, and in just five years we have built Disney+ into a streaming destination unlike any other with more than 120 million Disney+ Core subscribers at the end of fiscal 2024. And with the recent additions of the Hulu and ESPN tiles on Disney+, we have expanded the high-quality entertainment options accessible within a single platform for bundle subscribers. We are focused on ESPN’s continued evolution as the preeminent digital sports platform, serving fans anytime, anywhere. We have successfully obtained long-term rights to many of the most popular live sports, including the NFL, college football and our recently renewed NBA and WNBA deals, securing an industry-leading portfolio of sports programming. We are also excited for the launch of ESPN’s flagship direct-to-consumer offering in 2025. Our Experiences businesses remain the gold standard for the industry, and we are confident in the segment’s long-term prospects and committed to investing to drive continued long-term growth. Our footprint continues to grow with multiple projects and expansions currently underway at our parks around the world. We are also expanding Disney Cruise Line, allowing us to bring our most beloved IP into markets where we don’t have theme parks. This past year we debuted a new island destination — Lighthouse Point — and we recently launched our latest ship — the Disney Treasure — in December. In addition, our collaboration with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises in a transformational new games and entertainment universe. For all these strategic priorities, creative excellence remains at the center of our work as we build our businesses and seek to drive shareholder value. We will continue to strive to keep high quality and bold storytelling front and center for our Company to set us apart from others. On behalf of the senior leadership team, thank you for your continued support of The Walt Disney Company and the wonderful storytelling and experiences we create. I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished over the past fiscal year, and I am confident in our continued ability to drive sustained growth and create shareholder value. Sincerely, Robert A. Iger Chief Executive Officer

DCBaker7 days ago

Letter from James P. Gorman: Dear Fellow Shareholders, The Walt Disney Company delivered strong financial results for fiscal 2024, achieving notable strategic and creative milestones in each of the Company’s segments. This once again demonstrates the continued progress Disney’s world-class leadership team is making in executing on the Company’s strategic plan under Bob Iger’s exceptional leadership as Chief Executive Officer. The Board is grateful for your support throughout the year and, as we look forward, we have strong confidence in the management team’s plans for continued success. Ongoing dialogue with our shareholders and responsiveness to feedback is important to the Board and management team. In calendar year 2024, Disney contacted more than 95% of our largest 25 institutional shareholders to discuss a wide range of topics including Board oversight, management succession, executive compensation and enhanced disclosures. The Board and its committees discussed direct input received from investors during these conversations, which helped inform the fiscal 2024 decisions described throughout these proxy materials. We intend to continue our robust approach to understanding shareholder viewpoints on priority topics and incorporating feedback in our Board discussions. As we communicated throughout the year, the Board remains actively engaged in the high-priority work of management succession planning. As Chair of the Succession Planning Committee, I am focused on managing our succession process, and we have continued to make strong progress over the last year. In response to shareholder feedback, I was pleased to share an update on our expected timing to announce a CEO successor in early 2026. The full Board is engaged in and committed to finding the right leader for the Company and we are planning for a smooth leadership transition that will enable Disney’s continued success. The Board also remains focused on effective Company oversight, which includes regular evaluation and planning to maintain appropriate Board representation across a broad and relevant set of skills and experiences. Five non-management Directors, including myself, have joined the Board since 2021, bringing additional perspectives and expertise to this already high-quality Board. We will continue to seek strong alignment of our Board’s skills, perspectives and backgrounds to oversee Disney’s strategic priorities. Finally, on behalf of the entire Disney Board, I want to thank Mark Parker for his nine years of exemplary leadership and dedicated service to our shareholders and the Company. On a personal level, I would add that Mark has been a role model in the way he has guided me and chaired the Board with such grace, humility and intelligence. As he departs the Disney Board, it is a privilege to serve as Chairman of this storied institution at such a significant moment in the Company’s history. I look forward to working closely together with Bob to enable the Company’s continued success, and I’m honored to serve alongside such a talented group of Directors. We sincerely thank you for your investment in The Walt Disney Company. We look forward to our continued dialogue and to sharing updates on how we are preparing the Company for the years ahead. Sincerely, James P. Gorman Chairman of the Board