Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger doesn’t want to play Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ game or stick to his narrative. The head of the Mouse House isn’t looking for a fight, but he’s also not shying away from a fight.
Iger has made it clear that his company never looked forward to taking over the governorship, even as it vetoed legislation that many of its employees found unfortunate. However, DeSantis has used Walt Disney (dis) – Get a free report Public opposition to his alleged “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, an objection raised by Iger’s predecessor Bob Chapek, as a way of making the company a failure in his “Wake Up War” marketing campaign.
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The current Disney CEO has tried to make it clear to DeSantis that his company will not be a pawn in the game of political posturing during its tenure on the show. Second quarter earnings call. He tried to make it clear that Disney wasn’t looking to flirt or get around regulations, but was looking to continue operating the way it did.
Egger made his positions clear and ended his remarks with what could be seen as a clear threat.
Iger believes DeSantis is retaliating
Iger spoke at length about the company’s situation in Florida where it operates four theme parks, two water parks, several hotels, and the large Disney Springs shopping district.
“Regarding Florida, I have a few things I want to say about that. First of all, I think the case we filed last month made our position and the facts very clear, and this is really about one thing and one thing only and it’s retaliation against us for taking a stand on pending legislation. We believe that in taking this position we are only exercising our right to freedom of expression.”
The Disney CEO also shared that his company doesn’t have some kind of unique status in Florida.
“Also, it’s not in any way about special franchises or a level playing field or Disney using their influence around the state of Florida. But since that says so much about special zones and the arrangement we have, I want to hit the record straight on that as well. There are about 2,000 special zones in Florida Most of it was created to promote investor development – we were one of those areas.
Created, according to Iger, to make doing business in the state easier, Disney has done a lot of business in the state. The company has more than 75,000 employees in the state and attracts “tens of millions of people” to Florida.
“While it’s easy to say that the special Reedy Creek that was created for us more than 50 years ago has benefited us, it’s misleading not to also consider how much Disney has benefited Florida,” he said.
Egger also shared that both Daytona Speedway and the Villages retirement community also have private areas.
He added that “if the goal is to level the playing field in uniform application of the law or government oversight should be applied to private circles or be applied to all private circles.”
Eiger poses an undisguised threat
Disney World isn’t leaving Florida, but it does have the option to invest more or less in its operations in the state. This leverage Egger was very willing to point out to DeSantis.
“We have a great opportunity to continue investing in Florida. I indicated that our plans are to invest $17 billion over the next 10 years, which is what the state wants us to do,” he said.
Iger also noted that Disney wasn’t looking for tax breaks or not paying its fair share.
“There’s also a false narrative that we’ve been fighting to protect tax credits as part of this. But in reality we’re the largest taxpayers in Central Florida paying over $1.1 billion in state and local taxes last year alone. We pay more taxes more specifically,” he added. real estate as a result of that special area.
Finally, in what seemed like Egger’s demand for rational action, rather than political theater, the CEO put his cards entirely on the table.
“We work responsibly. We pay our fair share of taxes. We employ thousands of people and by the way, we pay them significantly more than the minimum wage over the minimum wage dictated by the state of Florida. We also give them great benefits and benefits. Free education. So I’ll finish with the kind of obvious. What a long answer by asking one question. Does the state want us to invest more, hire more people, pay more taxes or not?”