Thank you. Morning. Good morning, Chicago. Nice warm morning here in Chicago as a matter of fact. That wonderful video certainly reminds me of what an unbelievable privilege it is to lead this phenomenal company. It really is a thrill ride of a lifetime, and one that gets more exciting every single day. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity. We're thrilled to be here today. As many of you know, Chicago is the proud home of WLS-TV, our ABC station, which has been serving Chicagoans since 1948. Thank you, Chicago, for making ABC 7 the most-watched station in the city. John Idler, our station manager, is here too, thank you, John. Congratulations. Chicago also holds a very special place in the history of The Walt Disney Company.
The Disney story actually started right here in a house on Tripp Avenue, where Walt Disney was born. The house is still standing, and we're happy to see that it's being restored back to its original condition. We're thrilled that one day it'll be used as a children's center to inspire a new generation of dreamers and innovators. Our archives team has been providing some historic insight into what the house actually looked like when Walt lived there. Today, I'm proud to announce that The Walt Disney Company is supporting that restoration with a donation of $250,000. Thank you. As many of you know, Walt was a naturally gifted storyteller, and he honed his craft right here, drawing cartoons for his high school paper and skipping school, unfortunately, to hang out at the Chicago newspapers or at the Art Institute of Chicago.
He also enrolled in night school at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, an experience that he always remembered as a real turning point of his entire career. It was right here in Chicago that he decided to turn down the security of a steady job to chase a dream that is still coming true a century later. In fact, everything The Walt Disney Company is today, the creativity, the innovation, the bold ambition, the legendary storytelling, it all started right here in Chicago, where Walt was born. Of course, it's certainly fitting that we're holding our annual shareholders' meeting in this very special city. As you know, we use these meetings to tell you about the state of our company and to communicate our vision, our strategy, update you on progress, and to report our results.
We've also been known to share some exciting sneak peeks into our future just to keep it interesting. In fact, you saw some sneak peeks in that video earlier. Went by pretty quickly, I'm sure some of you picked them out. 10 years ago, we set out to differentiate our company and to build a strong foundation for growth so that Disney will continue to be the preeminent entertainment company in the world for generations to come. Short-term results get a lot of attention, but lasting strength and greater value are built through years of vision and investment, not just quarterly performance. We continually strive to create long-term opportunities, make strategic choices that empower us to thrive in a world where change is a constant. Our creative triumphs are impressive, as is our performance.
Our continued growth is definitely the result of a strategic vision over the last decade, which has been grounded in great storytelling and content and focused on maximizing the value of this incredibly strong array of brands. Our acquisitions are perfect examples of this long-term approach, because we believe that great stories well told transcend generations and geographies. They touch the heart, lift the spirit, and move the soul, and they can stand the test of time and find new life with emerging technology that puts powerful new tools in the hands of storytellers. The acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm brought so much wonderful talent to Disney, generating an era of unbridled creativity across our entire company. We're pairing that unbelievable collection of content from Disney, ABC, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and ESPN with innovation designed to drive opportunity in this incredibly dynamic era.
Speaking of ESPN, any sports fan can tell you that the mix of fantastic content and innovative technology creates a very powerful and entertaining combination. Because we're here in one of the greatest regions of the country for sports, we've put together something special for the sports fans that are with us this morning. Take a look. It's easy to see why ESPN remains the biggest brand in sports. In any given month, more than 200 million people connect with ESPN for live sports and sports news on TV, online, on air, on radio, or on all of the above. More than 90 million people in this country have a cable package that includes ESPN, and they consistently say that it is the most valuable channel in the lineup, and so do cable companies and advertisers.
Even though cable packages are still the most popular way to watch television, our media businesses continue to innovate, embracing digital technologies and platforms like Netflix and Hulu, and even creating our own, like our DisneyLife service that recently launched in the U.K. We're also leading the industry when it comes to telling stories from a wide variety of voices and visions, from ABC's groundbreaking diversity, both on camera and behind the scenes, to the successful shows Disney Channel is creating around the world that reflect local cultures. Collectively, all of these investments, acquisitions, and efforts are part of a long-term strategy that is designed to differentiate Disney as the world's premier storytelling company, and they're paying off with historic results and generating great value.
In the decade since we launched this strategy through fiscal 2015, Disney has delivered total shareholder return of 393%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500, which delivered a return of 96% during the same period. Over the last five years, we achieved annualized growth of 16% in net income and almost 20% in earnings per share. I'm happy to report that fiscal 2015 was our fifth consecutive year of record results. Revenue was up 7% to a record $52.5 billion. Net income increased by 12% to an all-time high of $8.4 billion, and our adjusted EPS was up 19% to $5.15 a share, setting another new record for our company. Our Q1 results included the highest quarterly earnings per share in the history of this great company. It was also our 10th straight quarter of double-digit EPS growth.
My personal goal as CEO has always been for Disney to be one of the most admired, one of the most respected companies in the world for what we create, for how we perform, for how we operate. I take great pride in the fact that Fortune just named The Walt Disney Company one of the five most admired companies in the world, recognized for the integrity and quality of our products and our people, for our leadership, for our innovation, for our long-term investment value, our sound financial position, and our social responsibility. I stepped into this job convinced that the best days of this legendary company were still ahead of us, and today, I can honestly say the same thing. In fact, I'm more excited and more optimistic about our future than ever before.
Everything that we've accomplished motivates us to continue to grow, to continue to innovate, and to continue to improve even more. Our studio is a great example of our ability to just keep trying to top ourselves. As you'll see, we have a phenomenal slate on the way, starting with "Zootopia," which is another fantastic and hilarious movie from Disney Animation. It is getting rave reviews and generating a lot of buzz all over the world. We think audiences are really going to love it. It opens tomorrow. Some of you may have seen the trailer, I brought a sneak peek of the movie for you today. Take a look.
When I say the term instant classic, I guess I should be a little bit careful because it may be a little too optimistic, that is a great film, and I believe it really will be a classic Disney Animation film serving people for generations to come. Just a wonderful movie. On the live action front, in addition to Johnny Depp's return as the Mad Hatter in "Alice Through the Looking Glass," we're looking forward to the April 15th release of Disney's "The Jungle Book." This movie is going to absolutely astound audiences with its innovative use of technology, bringing some of the most beloved characters to life from the earlier animated film in an extraordinary new way. Here is a look at "The Jungle Book." It's pretty like animals as a company.
In May, Captain America and Iron Man, along with many more Marvel superheroes, face off in an epic battle in "Captain America: Civil War." We're incredibly excited about this movie because it has some of the best Marvel storytelling to date. I brought an early clip with me today, even though the special effects aren't finished, I wanted you to see or be the first ones to see just how exciting this movie is going to be. Here is an exclusive clip from Marvel's "Civil War," Captain America. By the way, that was the actor Chad Boseman as Black Panther, making his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvel storytelling is going to continue later this year in November with the release of "Doctor Strange" that stars Benedict Cumberbatch.
Changing tone a little bit, Pixar is also off to a fantastic start this year. "Inside Out" just won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Not bad. We always seem to have our annual meetings the week after the Academy Awards. We've been on a good run. For those of you keeping score, this is our company's fourth straight win in this category. Of the nine Oscars awarded for best animated movie since the acquisition of Pixar 10 years ago, The Walt Disney Company has earned eight of them, which is great. Thank you. To the delight of Pixar fans everywhere, "Finding Dory," which is the sequel to that great film, "Finding Nemo," will be in theaters this June. We're thrilled to have Ellen DeGeneres back as Dory for this brand-new adventure.
We just released a new trailer yesterday, and you're the first to see it on the big screen. Take a look at "Finding Dory." Pretty amazing. All the films that we just showed you between now and June 17th, we have quite a lineup ahead for the studio. As you know, we started an exciting new era of "Star Wars" in a big way with the global phenomenon, "The Force Awakens." Thank you. It is the first film in history to exceed $900 million in domestic box office. It has surpassed $2 billion worldwide, more than doubling the last "Star Wars" movie, which was released 10 years ago. Clearly, the force is with us. Kind of a bad pun. Okay.
Today, I'm happy to announce that fans around the world will soon be able to own the epic movie, "The Force Awakens." I hope our shareholders here today kept the package that we gave you this morning because, in addition to the special posters that was in it, there is a special code that allows you to download the movie for free on digital HD or Disney Movies Anywhere the minute it is available, and that's on April 1st. That's the news. April 1st, we're making it available for all of you. Some of you may have caught a quick glimpse at "Rogue One" in our first video this morning. It is our first original standalone "Star Wars" story. It's about a band of rebels that are plotting to steal the plans to the Death Star.
The action takes place right before the events in the very first "Star Wars" movie, Episode IV, which is called "A New Hope." We can't wait for you to see it. It's in theaters this December. I don't have footage yet from that. The film has been shot. Filming has also begun on "Star Wars: Episode VIII," which is slated for release in December of 2017. Pre-production has already started on the next chapter in the saga, Episode IX. That's going to be in theaters in 2019. We're going to tuck in another "Star Wars" movie in 2018. A lot of "Star Wars" activity coming up. Next month, we break ground on our first "Star Wars" theme lands.
They will be at Disneyland and at Disney World, we're creating a truly jaw-dropping new world that's going to transport our guests right into the Star Wars story. When the new lands open, guests will have an opportunity to pilot the Millennium Falcon. We're also going to take you on a fantastic Star Wars adventure that puts you right in the middle of an epic battle between the First Order and the Resistance. It's also a very exciting time for our entire parks and resorts business. Our Disney Cruise Line continues to lead the industry in innovation and creativity and great guest service with four ships that combine the magic of Disney with the thrill of exploring the world to create the quintessential family cruise experience.
We're very proud that our fleet has recently been recognized as the best in the business, winning accolades from Travel + Leisure, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, and more. Today, I'm thrilled to announce that we're planning to add two more phenomenal ships to this award-winning fleet. We expect the new ships to be completed in 2021 and 2023. Yes, it takes a long time to build these big ships. Our Disney Imagineers are already hard at work dreaming up ways to make them our most spectacular yet. Of course, this is also the year of the Shanghai Disney Resort. To say that we're excited about the June 16th grand opening may be the understatement of the year. I've been involved in this project for 17 years, it's been thrilling to watch it come to life.
Hard to believe that we're just about 100 days away from sharing it with the world. See some great footage there. They were doing ride testing when I was there last week, I had a chance to try out some of the attractions, it really brought home just how very close we are to welcoming our first guests. That's Pirates Cove that you're seeing right now on the screen. How much fun these guests are going to have when they walk through the gates of Shanghai Disneyland. The grand opening of Shanghai Disney Resort will be a celebration of great creativity and collaboration. We think a triumph of great imagination and innovation and a testament to the collective talents and dedication of thousands and thousands of artisans and craftsmen and workers from across China, actually from across the world.
It's also going to be one of the proudest and most exciting moments in the history of The Walt Disney Company, as well as a very, very important part of our future. I can't begin to tell you what an honor and a gift it is to create joy for a living and to make millions of people smile, to bring a sense of wonder and discovery to children around the world, to give families an opportunity to set aside the cares of the day and spend time making memories of a lifetime. Our 185,000 cast members and employees around the world make that magic that I just described every day. They are the ones that do make it happen. Our achievements and success reflect their character, their talents, their hard work. Some of them are here today.
I know that many more are listening via webcast. I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly express a very heartfelt thank you to the remarkable men and women who make Disney such an extraordinary company. It's a happy group. I also want to thank our Board of Directors for their support. Generally for just what they bring to The Walt Disney Company in terms of all kinds of advice and leadership, and for supporting our ambitions and our long-term strategic bets for the future. I'd also like to thank our shareholders for their continued support and confidence as we build the future of The Walt Disney Company.
We're going to continue to make long-term bets, take smart risks, even though we've been telling timeless stories for generations, Disney maintains the bold, ambitious heart of a company that is just getting started in a world that we believe is full of promise and possibility. We're going to continue to lead. We feel that it is essential for us to continue to innovate, we're going to continue to look over the horizon to create a future of our own design. Now I'd like to introduce the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company. You can hold your applause because I'm going to have them all stand at once at the end. Starting with our Lead Director, Orin Smith. Orin was formerly President and CEO of Starbucks.
As Lead Director, Orin provides independent leadership for the Board of Directors, as well as invaluable counsel to me personally and to our senior team. Susan Arnold is an Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group and is retired from The Procter & Gamble Company, where Susan was the company's Vice Chairman. John S. Chen is Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackBerry Limited. Fred H. Langhammer is Chairman, Global Affairs of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Aylwin Lewis is Chairman, CEO, and President of Potbelly Sandwich Works, based right here in Chicago. I had an opportunity to visit their offices and taste some of their sandwiches yesterday. No commercials, Aylwin, all right? Actually, they were pretty good. Bob Matschullat is a private equity investor and former Vice Chairman and CFO of The Seagram Company Ltd. Sheryl Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.
Jack Dorsey, Chief Executive Officer of Twitter and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Square, Inc. I also want to welcome our two newest board members. Maria Elena Lagomasino is Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of WE Family Offices. Mark G. Parker is President and Chief Executive Officer of NIKE, Inc. They bring a wealth of experience and expertise along with valuable perspective to our board. It's great to have them all. At this time, I'd like to acknowledge that our Sorry, before you stand up, I have one more thing. Our long-term board member, Monica Lozano, is stepping down after 15 years of exemplary service. I want to thank her for her wise counsel, support, and friendship, join the entire board in expressing our sincere appreciation for her service. Now I'd like to ask the directors to stand and be recognized.
Ladies and gentlemen, the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company. Thank you. Our Chief Operating Officer, Tom Staggs, is here today. Tom, would you stand up, please? Thank you. Our Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy, and our General Counsel, Alan Braverman. Thank you. Before we move on to the business portion of this meeting, I want to acknowledge a very special guest. We're very proud to have Roy O. Disney with us here today. Roy, thank you for coming. There you are. Thank you. We appreciate your support. I know you're a visitor of our Disney annual shareholder meetings, and you're often at our lot and all of our special events, it's great to have you with us today. Now it's time for the formal business portion of this meeting.
The meeting has been duly called and is being conducted in conformity with the laws of Delaware and the company's charter and bylaws. If you have already voted by proxy, you don't need to vote again. If you haven't yet voted or if you want to change your vote, you may do that now, so please raise your hand if you need a ballot to vote. There'll be people in the audience who can come around and give you ballots. Ballots need to be turned in by the end of the business portion of this meeting. We will have someone collect them at that time. The copies of the rules for the meeting were provided at the registration table. I would like to ask everyone's cooperation in respecting the rules, including speaking time limits and assisting us in the orderly conduct of business.
We have six items on the agenda today, including two shareholder proposals. I will introduce each of the first four items, and the shareholder representatives will present the two shareholder proposals. After all six items have been presented, there will be an opportunity for any shareholder who is interested to address those items, to speak. Then the polls will close, and we'll hear a preliminary report from the Inspector of Election and adjourn the business portion of the meeting. After that, we'll have a general question and answer period. The company has retained Broadridge as Inspector of Election for this meeting, and I would like to introduce Belinda Massafra, a representative of Broadridge, and ask her to report on the number of outstanding shares that are present today and voting. Ms. Massafra.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As of the close of business on January 4th, 2016, the record date for this meeting, there were 1,641,636,839 shares of the company's common stock outstanding, each of which is entitled to one vote. There are at least 1,420,595,462 shares of common stock represented by proxy at this meeting, representing at least 86% of the total number of shares entitled to vote.
Thank you. Based on this report, I declare that a quorum is present, and that this meeting is qualified to proceed with the business before us, and that the polls are now open. The first item is the election of 11 members of the board of directors. Each director holds office for a term of one year, and those nominated for election at this meeting, in addition to me, are Susan Arnold, John Chen, Jack Dorsey, Mel Lagomasino, Fred Langhammer, Aylwin Lewis, Bob Matschullat , Mark Parker, Sheryl Sandberg, and Orin Smith. As you know, the board recommends a vote for the election of all of the nominees. The next item is ratification of the appointment-
Point of order, Mr. Chairman.
The next item is ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered accountants for the current fiscal year, as recommended by the audit committee of the board of directors. Bob Barrett, a representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers, is here today to respond to any questions. The board recommends a vote for ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company's independent registered accountants for fiscal 2016. The next item is the advisory vote on executive compensation. We're seeking advisory shareholder approval of the compensation of our named executive officers, and the board recommends a vote for this proposal. The next item is a shareholder proposal presented by James McRitchie.
The full text of the proposal is set forth in the proxy statement. I understand that Mr. Martin Glotzer, a representative of the shareholder, is here to present this proposal, and I would like to invite him to do so.
Point of order, Mr. Chairman.
Excuse me, sir. I would ask that he limit the presentation to five minutes at most, Mr. Glotzer.
Point of order, Mr. Chairman. We want to talk about the proposal, the election of directors. Let me tell you, I've run 50 annual shareholder meetings because I've run three publicly owned companies. I'm very offended by the directors not being able to speak face-to-face with shareholders. I attended the annual meeting of General Electric last year, and all the directors met in the lobby prior to the meeting and after the meeting also. I've also attended the annual meeting at Quaker Oats, and they did the same thing. I'm very much offended by not having to be able to speak face-to-face with directors, and I believe many shareholders present today would like to speak face-to-face with directors. I want to talk on the proposal, the election of directors. Are we able to talk on the proposal?
You've been asked to put forward the shareholder proposal that was in the proxy presented by Mr. McRitchie, and we've given you five minutes to do that. You will have time in a general Q&A session later if you would like to discuss any other matters, but right now, you've been called upon to present the shareholder proposal.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Since I've been the chairman of companies, I follow the rules of the chairman. I'm going to introduce the proposal found in the proxy statement. Let the record indicate that I've read the proposal as presented in the proxy statement, and as the proponent, I reserve the right for the final say. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Glotzer. The board of directors has recommended a vote against this proposal for the reasons set out fully in the proxy statement. The next item is a proposal presented by Zevin Asset Management. The full text of that shareholder proposal is also set forth in the proxy statement. I understand that Mr. Glotzer is also presenting this proposal. Mr. Glotzer, do you want to stand and present that?
As I told you, I have the final say on the other proposal. The final say is, we want to thank all the shareholders who took the time to vote for and against this proposal, especially the ones who voted yes. On the second proposal, again, let the record indicate that I read the proposal as presented in the proxy statement, and again, as the final proponent, I have the final say. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. The board of directors has recommended a vote against this proposal for the reasons set out fully in the proxy statement. At this point, I will open the floor to discussion on any other items that we have just presented, including the four proposals that the company put forward. If you'd like to address one of those items, please proceed to a microphone and wait to be recognized. When you're recognized, please state your name and identify which item that you would wish to address, and then proceed with your remarks. Please limit them to two minutes in order to give shareholders the opportunity to be heard.
Note that we will have a general question and answer session following the business portion of the meeting. If you would please limit your remarks at this time to the items that we have just presented, we would appreciate it. Does anyone have anything they would like to comment about in terms of what was just presented? Number one, I'm just calling on this gentleman, Mr. Glotzer. I will get to you next.
Thanks, Mr. Iger. My name is Justin Danhof. I'm general counsel with the National Center for Public Policy Research. I want to talk about shareholder proposal number 2 and encourage all Disney shareholders who haven't voted yet to reject this proposal. Zevin Asset Management, the filer of proposal number 2, would like us shareholders to believe that it's a good governance organization that's interested in corporate transparency. That's simply not the case. Zevin is part of a broad network of liberal organizations that use corporate America as a pawn to try and silence speech and defund the free enterprise movement. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, this network has filed dozens and dozens of resolutions complaining about a lack of transparency and accountability regarding corporate lobbying and political activity.
However, these groups never, and I mean absolutely never, express concern about the billions of corporate dollars that go to fund liberal causes and politicians. That's just the point. Zevin and its ilk abhor corporate speech when it may skew right but remain silent when it flows freely to the left. Today, Zevin would like to use us Disney shareholders in its proxy war, pardon the pun, to try and defund and silence the National Restaurant Association. You heard that right. Zevin thinks the National Restaurant Association is a big evil that must be silenced. Concerning Disney's involvement with the National Restaurant Association, that organization claims, quote, "No doubt Disney's membership dues to the association, known for their lobbying muscle as the other NRA, go to lobbying against fair pay and working conditions." This is a baseless claim.
The National Restaurant Association works to expand employee freedoms for millions of Americans and combats onerous state and federal regulations. Zevin's proposal has nothing to do with Disney as a company. It has even less to do with us as Disney shareholders. We are just a means to achieve censorship that Zevin cannot otherwise achieve, since the U.S. Constitution protects free speech. Don't let Zevin Asset Management silence free speech. Please join me in rejecting shareholder proposal 2.
Thank you, sir. Mr. Glotzer?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One of the benefits of having an annual shareholders meeting is to give all shareholders the opportunity to voice their opinions. That's what I'm here for, corporate democracy. I want to speak on the proposal, the election of directors. I was amazed to see in the proxy statement tenure that we're losing a director. In real life, I've been the president of the Cincinnati Union Stock Yard Company since 1965, a publicly owned company started in 1870. At the annual shareholders meeting of the Stock Yard Company in 1966, I had the shareholders amend our bylaws to provide for a director emeritus. I believe here at Disney, we should have the benefit of the director emeritus so we continue to have the benefit of the director who is not standing for election.
Director emeritus status is a director attends the meetings, doesn't have a vote, gets paid. Why give up the benefit of having the woman who's been with us for 15 years just because of tenure? I request that the board of directors of Disney consider amending the bylaws to provide for a director emeritus so that we can continue to have the benefits of longtime directors. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. Any other comments about the proposals that have just been brought forth? Thank you. At this point, I think we've heard the range of views and opinions on those proposals, so it's time to close out this discussion, and that would conclude the consideration of all of the items to be presented at the meeting, so that if anyone has not yet voted and you're holding a ballot, please raise your hand again, and we will collect it from you. The polls will now close, and I would ask the inspector of election to give us her report based on the proxies that were received at the opening of the polls at today's meeting. Ballots and proxies handed in during the meeting will be reviewed and validated by the inspector and included in the final vote tally.
This final vote will be reflected in the minutes of the meeting and in a report that we will file with the SEC within the next week. Inspector, may we have your preliminary report?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For item 1, the election of directors, we have received proxies voting for each director, representing at least 94% of the vote cast. For item 2, ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we have received proxies for 98% of shares voting to approve the appointment. For item 3, approval of the advisory vote on executive compensation, we have received proxies for 84.6% of shares voting to approve the resolution. For item 4, approval of amendments to the certificate of incorporation, we have received proxies for 69.9% of outstanding shares voting to approve the amendments. For item 5, approval of the shareholder proposal relating to simple majority vote, we have received proxies for only 34.8% of shares voting for the proposal. For item 6, approval of the shareholder proposal on lobbying disclosure, we have received proxies for only 27.1% of shares voting for the proposal.
That concludes my report, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much. Based on that report and subject to the final confirmation of voting results by the Inspector of Election, I declare that all of the nominees for election to the board have been duly elected. That the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been duly ratified, that the advisory proposal on executive compensation was approved, that the amendments of our certificate of incorporation was approved, and that neither of the shareholder proposals were approved. That concludes the business portion of the meeting, and our meeting is now technically adjourned. As I said earlier, we're ready to take some questions. If you would like to ask a question, please proceed to one of the microphones and wait to be recognized. When you're recognized, we'd appreciate it if you would state your name, tell us where you're from, and proceed with your question.
Again, because we have a number of people in the audience that have questions, I'd like you to limit your question to no more than 2 minutes in order to give shareholders an opportunity to be heard and do not raise or repeat topics that have been previously raised. I would also ask that speakers refrain from raising personal matters or grievances, since it's really not fair to make everybody sit through matters of personal concern. We have other ways that we can address your concerns. Now we'll open the floor to questions. If you could turn house lights up a bit for me, that would help. Okay, we'll go to number 1 first.
Hello, my name is Ben. I'm a shareholder from California, and I've been attending this meeting annually since I was 16 years old, 17 years ago, and have experienced a great variety of cities as you've moved around the meeting every year. My question is, as we experience the dynamics of every city we've been to, including the one fantastic Chicago, have you ever considered, for a climate reason, to hold the meeting in Aulani in Hawaii?
We may have a five-day meeting there if we do that. No, we haven't. It comes up every once in a while, which is kind of wishful thinking on the behalf of some people. We'd love to be able to go there. It's a great resort, but it's a long way away, and I don't think convenient enough for shareholders. Thank you for the idea. Yes, number 2.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Martin Glotzer. I'm a Roosevelt University graduate. This is my home. Also, I've been in Honolulu since 1959. I've been the president of Selamat Dingding Plantations Limited, a former coconut and rubber estate in Malaya. I'd love to go back home to Honolulu under the banyan tree at the Moana Hotel on the beach of Waikiki. The question I wanted to ask, in that Marvel movie, I attend Harley-Davidson's annual shareholders meeting every year. Those motorcycles, are those Harleys?
I-
I'm giving a plug to Harley because if you tell me Harley didn't make it when I'm at the Harley meeting in April, I'll ask.
I actually, I've seen the movie a few times, I did not identify the motorcycles by brand. If they're identified in the movie, chances are we have an agreement with Harley or whatever motorcycle company manufactured them to provide them, I'm not sure. I can find that out for you, though, probably before this meeting ends.
Well, I'm involved with Kim, the investor relations person. She personally is.
Okay. Well, that's good.
Okay, thank you.
She can find that out.
I'm going to ask a few more questions, but the other shareholders.
Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. It's nice coincidence that you went to school here, Mr. Glotzer.
Yeah. I also was here with the USO in 1946. On the stage was a bowling alley.
Thank you. We'll go back to number 2. number 1.
I guess I'm just going to keep following Marty. My name's Justin Danhof again. I'm with the National Center for Public Policy Research. Mr. Iger, I just wanted to follow up on a topic that you and I discussed in 2013 at The Disney meeting down in Phoenix. The weather was a little better that day. At that meeting, I presented you with a laundry list of incidents that showed ABC and its affiliates suffering from liberal bias in presenting the news. You responded at the time, I want to quote exactly what you said, that, "We have been guilty of making mistakes. We have at times either presented the news in a slightly inaccurate way or through mistakes or in ways that we weren't necessarily proud of." We shareholders kind of just want to know what's happened in the interim.
Polls show that the American people continue to believe the media presents the news in a biased way by margins of nearly three to one. ABC News continues to deserve its fair share of blame for this ongoing problem. For example, ABC News continues to employ George Stephanopoulos, despite the fact that he was a high-ranking official in President Bill Clinton's administration and donated significant funds to the Clinton Foundation, a fact that he personally hid from the viewing public for quite some time. How can the public possibly believe that he is objective when covering this presidential election? My question is this: By large numbers, the American people believe that your news organization suffers from bias. In 2013, you said you were sorry for this problem. I was confident that you would make changes to correct the problem and restore our collective faith in your news outlets.
Can you tell us shareholders one, I'm literally just asking for one concrete step that you have taken to counterbalance the liberal bias that pervades Disney's news platforms? Thank you.
Thank you for your opinion. I think you've taken my response to your question or your comment in 2013 a bit out of context, though. While I did say the things that you said, I did say overall, I was proud of the efforts of ABC News, I thought generally speaking, what they presented to their public was fair and unbiased. Are we perfect? No. I believe the overall presentation of ABC News, the reputation of ABC News, is one that we are and will continue to be proud of. From time to time, we examine issues to make sure that the way we're presenting a story or that one of our journalists, or we make sure that our journalists are fully fair and unbiased on subjects.
Where we need to, we act if we feel something's been presented that isn't particularly right, those are very rare. I'm well aware of the George Stephanopoulos situation. I watch George often. George is a person of integrity. I believe what I have seen, I know this is the opinion that is shared by the head of ABC and the head of ABC News, we believe that George is presenting to his public a fair and unbiased look at, even since you mentioned the presidential campaign, the presidential campaign and the candidates. I've seen him interview a number of candidates on both sides, he seems to be equally aggressive in terms of looking for criticism, looking for flaws, demanding facts and opinions from all of them.
I assure you that if we felt that George were not presenting it fairly or were biased, he would not be on our air. I don't have a specific example except this is something that we take very seriously, we monitor closely, as I said, overall, we believe that we have reason to be proud of the way ABC News behaves and the programs and the people that make up ABC News. Thank you.
Do you just think the viewing public misperceives this bias? You're saying it's not there, the public is wrong? It's not even close what the public thinks.
People are entitled to their opinions. People with one very specific set of beliefs or political opinions may view a lot of what is presented across numerous networks as not consistent with their own beliefs, and I guess it would be their conclusion that that would be biased. I do not believe that overall, the American public in general views ABC News as being biased. Are there people out there that do? I'm sure there are.
Okay, thanks.
Thank you. Let's go to number 2.
My name is Dwight Morgan. I'm a shareholder, Premier Passport holder, PIN trader, D23 Gold member. I've been here before. I want to thank you for helping get PIN traders location issues that I've addressed before, as well as explanation of gift cards and pass holder discount issues that I brought you in years gone by. Those things are still works in progress. This year, got another one. There's a lot of talk of overcrowding in the parks. Passport price increases at Disneyland Resort, that hasn't solved the problem. Now we're looking at demand pricing.
Fellow pass holders have suggested to me, because they knew I was coming, that if you really want to reduce the number of pass holders in order to control the uncontrollable surge of people at the parks, the way to do it is to remove the interest-free monthly payment option on the purchase of those passes rather than raising prices. I think I've stated my point pretty clearly. If there's anything I'm missing, would you let me know?
Okay, thank you. That idea has never been brought to my attention. I'll make sure that it is considered as we've considered your other ideas in the past. Actually, in some cases, we've actually implemented one of them or a couple of them as you just cited, but I appreciate that. We believe that the new pricing strategy at our parks domestically in Florida and in California give our guests a number of options, some options that they didn't have. We believe they generally track what is fairly normal in the travel and tourism industry, and that is peak or demand pricing or seasonal pricing. We hope that one of the byproducts of this pricing strategy is to spread out our visitation, shall we say, and to perhaps reduce crowds during what is our most popular or the peak periods of time.
We actually feel pretty good about what we've just announced because, again, it provides so many different variables for the guest, and it may end up providing a slightly better guest experience on the most popular days. Thank you.
I have to agree with that, but the price increase that I was referring to was the 30% plus that you hit all the pass holders with in California.
The annual pass holders.
The annual pass holders. That's the one that really hurt and didn't do any good.
Okay, thank you. We'll take that into consideration.
All right. Thank you.
Back to number one.
Hi, my name is Donnie Stevens. I was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona. My favorite biased TV show is "Last Man Standing." My favorite character is Orange Bird . I want to thank all the Disney employees for the shared memories I've had with my children and my family, and I want to thank Disney for the connection I can have with complete strangers, by just one word, which is Disney. My question is, we've seen the expansion of Animal Kingdom. They have Avatar. We've seen Magic Kingdom get an expansion of New Fantasyland. We've seen Hollywood Studios get an expansion with Star Wars and Pixar Land. My question is, one of the more important parts to me is Epcot, because it infuses entertainment and education.
I was wondering if Disney had any future plans for an expansion of Epcot or any ideas or any expansion with that kind of fusion of entertainment and education.
First of all, and this is not about expansion, we continue to upgrade and we continue to add things to Epcot that are new. In fact, in 2016, there'll be a new Frozen attraction at Epcot, as you know, in the Norway pavilion. We're also Soarin' Around the World sometime in 2016, which is also going to come to California. We met at Imagineering not that long ago and looked at long range plans for Epcot. We don't like to just stand on our laurels or maintain the status quo. We too believe that there are all kinds of opportunities, particularly given the size of Epcot, to take advantage of the property and to expand our offerings and our attractions. There's a lot of great work going into that thinking. There's nothing that we have to announce here today, though, but thank you for your interest.
Thank you.
Back to number 2.
Good morning. My name is Matthew Hanson. I'm a shareholder from Salt Lake City. I first wanted to thank you and the board for the time you took to review my proposal regarding Song of the South, even though it wasn't included. I have a couple quick questions regarding parks and resorts. First, what is the status of the rights to use Marvel characters in parks east of the Mississippi? Do we know when those rights will revert and allow Marvel to be used at Walt Disney World? Secondly, considering just how well the first Star Wars film made by the studio has done, I was wondering if you could address reports that the budget for Disneyland's expansion was scaled back, eliminating a third attraction in Star Wars Land, as well as eliminating moving sidewalks from the Pumbaa parking structure.
Wow, you have a lot of details, huh? The rights that we do not have to Marvel east of the Mississippi that prevent us from doing certain things in Orlando with Marvel characters and franchises are, I believe, in perpetuity. There's nothing imminent, and there isn't an expiration date, to my knowledge. We've, from time to time, have talked about whether there's a negotiation to be had that would expand our rights to do that, there's nothing active at the moment. In terms of Star Wars Lands at both Florida and California, I assure you that we're putting a substantial amount of capital into those expansion projects so that the experience that people have when they walk into Star Wars Lands will be fantastic.
We do tweak the size and the nature, the complexity of what it is we plan to build or we decide before we break ground, before we actually open. There have been some tweaks from the initial pitch, I think what we're building is going to be fantastic, including the two attractions, I think, that were most visible in the graphics that I showed you earlier, particularly the ability to ride the Millennium Falcon. This also is an opportunity for us to combine storytelling that relied on great technology with theme park experiences that will rely on great technology to create what will feel like real experiences, I think you'll enjoy them. I wouldn't focus on what was in an early design plan because what we're building is going to be great.
I was wondering if you could also touch on the Pumbaa parking structure and the moving sidewalks because some view that removing those moving sidewalks is the company's executives a bit out of touch with the guest experience regarding parking.
Just too far away, takes too long a walk. Is that what you're suggesting?
Well, just for the fact that the executives of the company don't have to experience the same parking issues because they just park at the Grand Californian.
Honestly, I'm familiar with a lot that goes on. I'm not familiar with any changes that we're making in terms of moving walkways. Tom, do you have any knowledge of this at all? Help me here.
As we've increased demand, especially at Disneyland, especially with California Adventure being transformed, we've put pressure on the parking situation. It is part of our long-range plan, and we're looking to address it. Moving sidewalks may end up being not the most efficient or effective way of doing that, but it is something that is absolutely on our radar and something we're looking to address.
Thank you.
Thanks, Tom. Let's go back to one, please.
[Foreign language] Buenos días, Mr. Chairman.
[Foreign language] Buenos días.
Board of Directors, our fellow shareholders. I'm Jane Garcia, and I'm from the neighboring city, Detroit, the Comeback City. That's what we call it now. I'm here to thank you for what you have done through the years. I know you listen to the shareholders, and you pay attention, and that's real important nowadays. I want to give a special thanks to Monica Lozano, who did a wonderful job representing my community wherever she went. [Foreign language] Muchísimas gracias to her. I just wanted to make sure she really does need applause. I hope you join me.
Thank you. I agree.
I want to make sure that you also know there is a lady in Florida named Lourdes who does a wonderful job, has that magical touch, always returns calls, and makes sure the national programs that I belong to, I sit on a national board called SER Metro-Detroit and SER National that I've told you about. I know that every time we have a meeting down there, she just is just wonderful. I just think you need to know that everybody that I've ever worked with at Disney has that magical touch, and I hope that that continues, and I'll put in writing as I always do all the things that you have been doing. [Foreign language]
We will make sure that your comments about her get back to her, I promise. Thank you. Back to two.
Mr. Chairman, my name's Richard Zavodsky. I'm a stockholder from Auburndale, Florida. Been a stockholder since 1996 and a cast member of 13 years. The reason I'm here today is of a personal nature. I've sent a document to you, after going through the chain of command and not getting any response, regarding my career with The Walt Disney Company. When I started work with the Disney Cruise Line, my benefits were taken away. I was not able to experience the magic of the parks or the resorts with my family. I wasn't given any Disney discounts, and taken away from me. In essence, I was ostracized from The Walt Disney Company by my choice to join the Disney Cruise Line. I've sent a document to you seven times since June of last year.
As a stockholder since 1996, as a cast member serving the company for 13 years, I would have expected one of your management to make a response to my concerns. I have not been given a response. What I'd like to do, Mr. Chairman, I know it's not reflective of you, but of your staff, but if I could get an usher to give you a copy of this document and have you follow up with it, then I won't bore the fellow shareholders with the details.
Okay, thank you. I'm familiar with your situation. I would be glad to put you directly in touch with an executive from our human resources group, to hear your grievances and to talk about how we handled your employment at the company and what happened after you left employment with the company.
Is it something we can handle today? Would that person be present, or how would you like to handle it?
The person is not present. I would be glad to accept the letter that you want delivered to me. I will make sure that someone gets back to you directly within the next week.
Do you have a name, like Ms. Hodges or?
I know Ms. Hodges. She runs HR for Parks and Resorts. I don't know whether it would be Julie Hodges or not, but it will be someone on her staff.
I appreciate that. If you could have an usher.
Is your contact information in there?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Appreciate it. Back to number 1.
Good morning, Mr. Iger. My name is Susanna George. My husband and I have been stockholders for over 20 years. This year, we gifted both of our young adult children with Disney stock because we believe in the company so much. I was going to touch on the tiered park pricing. My daughter mentioned that to me this morning, but it's already been addressed. I hear and I hope the company who considers it around the [inaudible] more than enabled them to do that financially. I'd like to do two things this morning. One, I'd like to applaud you for taking the bull by the horn and addressing the Wall Street pundits on the apparent demise of the ESPN network, which as you showed all of us, is kicking and alive and on in my house on multiple televisions 24 hours a day, it seems like.
As my children grew, we moved from the Disney Channel right to ESPN, and we're not going anywhere anytime soon. I will say, as a satellite subscriber, I would love to disconnect myself from them, and I hope, as I heard last week, and I know you were at the Apple shareholder meeting as well when Tim Cook talked about Apple TV and some other options out there. I am hoping that you are exploring those options so that you can continue to deliver the ESPN content to us in other ways that will allow us some freedom from the shackles of the cable and the dish companies. I'd like to also ask you one other question, and that is, there is a hidden jewel in the Disney portfolio that I am when it will be explored, and that is The Muppets. I love Star Wars. I love Pixar.
Where, on Marvel it's fine. I'm an investor. I believe in ROI, definitely. I believe there's a hidden jewel. Reading back and looking at some of the history of Disney and Henson, knowing at the time Michael Eisner began to make that deal with Jim Henson. He passed away suddenly. It was not consummated. Many things went on throughout the years. I was thrilled to see Disney come back to the table with the Henson children and the company and purchase The Muppets. I'm just wondering, when are we going to breathe the Disney magic and life into what seems like a perfect pairing? Other than Minnie, obviously, who is the more perfect pal for Mickey than Kermit? I just feel there's a huge opportunity there for the company that I'd love to see us explore. I'd like to know your thoughts
Okay
if you have any thoughts.
Well, thank you. We actually have had The Muppets in a variety of different storytelling vehicles. They have a series on ABC that kicked off early this season, or last season, and we tried a feature film a few years back. In fact, Tina Fey was in it. That did okay. Wasn't great, but it did fine. To my knowledge, we do not have other development on the motion picture front for The Muppets. We from time to time think about other ways that we could use them in all kinds of different media. I don't have details right now, but I'll take account.
Just planting a seed. In California Adventure, I know you've done some things in the past.
Yes.
An opportunity perhaps.
Okay, thank you. Also on ESPN, we're very proud of ESPN. They're extremely popular. We're exploring all kinds of new ways for ESPN to be distributed. The great thing about our world today is that there are even more opportunities for people to consume our great products, for us to reach more people. Some of the new platforms, in particular because of how user-friendly they are and how much mobility they offer really compelling experiences, particularly for sports. We're exploring a lot of different possibilities. Thank you for your comments across the board.
On it. It's a great part of the company.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Lorna Steer from Bristol, Connecticut.
Bristol.
Yes.
Welcome.
Retired ESPN. It will remain strong Disney now and in the future. I just want to make one comment. I've been a Disney fan since the Mickey Mouse Club was in black and white. We kept the dream alive when my parents took my son to Disney World. This past summer, the grandparents, my husband and I, took our seven-year-old, Philip, and our three-year-old, Victoria. Victoria at three, her statement, "I love Disney World. It is so clean and the people are so nice. I want to live, work, sleep, eat, dance, and sing at Disney World." As a 70-year-old grandmother, I'd like to say a big thank you for those who do work, live, eat, sleep, dance, and sing at Disney World and keep the magic alive through generations. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Yes, number 1.
Hi, my name is Scott Ladwig and I'm from St. Louis. First I'd like to say thank you for bringing the meeting back. The next time you come through, I'd like to offer St. Louis as a host. I'm sure Jack Dorsey will back me up on that. The question I had was related to the MyMagic+. I'd be curious to get your assessment on how that program with the MagicBands and everything, the impact it's had on the company in terms of guest experience and performance, when we might see the next generation, some of the other features that have been talked about as being enabled by this base technology.
Overall, the reaction has been fantastic. We do a fair amount of research on it, particularly because we put a lot of capital into that project. It really was designed to do one thing, and that was to improve people's experiences when they visited us, which included giving them an opportunity to plan their visit before they came, taking a lot of the anxiety and a lot of the complication out of their trip. What we've heard back from those that have used it is very, very positive. It's also enabling people to experience more of our attractions and basically to enjoy themselves more without having to worry about some of the other extraneous experiences that happen in our parks, without having to think about it as much as they once did. It's been quite positive.
Because technology keeps moving onward and improving, we're looking at all different ways to expand the program, both in Orlando and in our other parks around the world. It won't necessarily be through physical MagicBands, since mobile technology and personal mobile devices can offer a lot of the functionality that the bands that we created offer. There may be very different but equally great opportunities for us to use technology to improve experience. It's been very good performer for the company overall, for theme parks in particular.
Are there any plans, especially with the two new builds coming to the cruise line, to extend some of the technology? It always seemed like the MagicBand was just made for the cruise line.
Yeah, we've talked about it. We've talked about it with the people who run cruise. I don't think we're planning a MagicBand for cruise, but there's a lot of functionality to the MagicBands themselves and what they do that we believe can be applied to cruise. I don't know where it stands in terms of development, but I know I participated in a discussion probably about a year or so ago with the head of our cruise line about just that. He felt he needed that kind of technology to make the experiences he offers even better.
Pitch a walk around Orange Bird down at Disney World.
Orange Bird's getting a lot of attention today. Yeah.
Hi, my name is Cori, and I'm a shareholder from Arizona, where it's going to be 90 degrees today.
Were you at another one of our meetings, Cori?
Yeah.
I remem-
This is my eighth meeting.
Oh, you've been in a few. Yes, I remember you. We talked about summer camp once. Is that possible?
I think-
Was that you?
I did.
No? Okay. Someone else.
Many of my favorite movies are Pixar. I've loved to see how they get their ideas and work. I was just wondering, why doesn't Pixar Studios allow tours?
First of all, Pixar Studio is not that big, and they are very busy. We feel if we were to allow tours, they would be so popular that they would end up being, one, hard to manage and, two, big distractions for us up there. There have been occasional tours at Pixar. Typically it's for people in other parts of the industry or people that we know. In some cases, elected officials have been through to see Pixar. We don't have anything organized because we just can't manage it.
Okay. Thank you.
I'm tempted to offer you one in particular since you've been to eight, if I do that, I get in a lot of trouble. I don't know. Maybe just leave your name with us. I know that I'm in a lot of trouble now, I feel it. Everybody here will understand if we just do this for Cori, right?
Yeah.
Okay. Please, no precedent. This is not a precedent. We will figure something out since this is your eighth meeting. We'll start with, unless you have been to at least eight of our meetings. You can't even ask. Okay. Yes, I know you'd like a tour, too. We can only offer one per meeting.
I would love a tour, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you, Mr. Iger. It's an honor to be here. My name is C.J. Diegel. I'm an individual investor from Scottsdale, Arizona. At the moment, I'm questioning my judgment for coming to Chicago for a meeting, I appreciate that Walt was from here. I'm a father of two, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, and I am a cord cutter. I know you think this question's going to be about ESPN, but it's not. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be traveling to Disneyland, Disney World, and a Disney cruise, and I can promise you that my kids will spend most of their time watching Disney Junior because we don't get it at home. My question, and I appreciate that it was up on the screen for two seconds, when am I getting DisneyLife?
DisneyLife is a direct-to-consumer mostly service that we launched in the U.K. in the fall that offers Disney movies, Disney TV shows, books, games, all kinds of short films, music, for instance. It's actually a great product that we just reviewed again the other day. There are possibilities to bring DisneyLife to different markets around the world, particularly the United States. We have not made plans to do that yet, but we've been talking about it a lot because Disney and that array of great products under the Disney brand, just we think are tailor-made for a mobile experience and for a direct-to-consumer experience. Nothing at the moment to announce regarding that. We do talk about it, and I think there's an inevitability, but I can't tell you when.
The sooner the better. Thank you for taking my question.
Now you could sign up again for satellite or cable television and watch a lot of that stuff there.
All we want is Disney, and part of that is because of the user experience, and it's a channel for a three-year-old and a one-year-old. We feel safe with Disney, and as a consumer, clearly I love the Disney experience. The experience is what I am all about, and to give my kids those channels, it helped because I've seen "Cars 2" and "Mater's Tall Tales" way too many times. I'm excited about "Cars 3" just for the change, having that pipeline would be outstanding.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your time.
Appreciate it. Okay, a couple of more. Number two.
My name is Karen Loftus. I'm from Lenexa, Kansas, and my question is, I'm a fan of the "National Treasure" movie franchise, and I'm wondering if we'll be seeing a third movie.
We've done two. Yes. They were really fine. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced them, has had conversations with our studio a number of times about it, and there have been some developments along the way. As of now, we have not green lit, as we say, a "National Treasure 3" but I know there is time and probably some resources spent on development. That's all I can tell you.
I hope it'll happen.
All right. Thank you. Back to one.
Good morning, Bob. My name is Terry Scott, and I'm from Gilberts, Illinois. My question for you is, my son is studying film at the University of Missouri, and he would love to work for Disney. How would we go about reaching the right people to get his resume to you?
Well, I'm sure there's a variety of information on our websites about jobs, open positions, and career opportunities, et cetera. We can also get information from you directly to our HR people and they can give you the information that you need.
That would be great. Thank you.
All right. Thank you. Good school. Good film school. University of Missouri. Yes.
Hi, my name is Dan Smith.
Dan.
I'm from a place called Glendale. You know, turn right at the stop sign when you go home from work, if you're aware of that place. I'm a private investor. Just to give you an idea, I'd like to thank you and the esteemed members of the board and the visions of the staff members present here. I made a decision about three years ago to become 100% invested in Walt Disney against common convention. That has paid off handsomely by your decisions. Now, question of the day. We make sock snocker movies. We make properties, and we have characters and stuff that are just [fill the booze], fill the things, fill the press. There's this perception, this emotional perception in Wall Street of the ESPN dragging us down because of the disproportional weighting of the revenues from that division.
My question is, do we have developments to make strategic planning to de-weight ESPN and weight up the other profitable divisions of the parks, of the consumers, of all the other divisions we have so that it's more equi-based, so that one time somebody just doesn't scream fire and go bug walking?
How did you describe our movies? Sock knockers?
Sock snockers.
That's a new one for me, but I like that.
Knocks your socks off.
I get it. Yes. I know. I know. Thank you. That must be a Glendale term, right?
It is.
First of all, ESPN is a healthy business and a large business, an exciting business, and a growth business. Will it grow at the compelling rate that we've seen it grow in the last 50, 20 years into the future? Probably not. It's to deliver growth for the company long term. Not a day goes by when we don't talk about ESPN's positioning, not just as part of the company, but in this world of media, this very dynamic world that's changing right before our eyes, in some cases being disrupted. We're not in any way taking the matters lightly in terms of speculation or what's been said or what's believed to be the case about ESPN. If you look at the company in the last 10 years, we actually diversified a fair amount, no matter how you look at it.
ESPN and our media networks represents a smaller piece of the overall pie, for instance today, than it did because of these great investments that we've made in Pixar and in Marvel and in Lucasfilm, as for instance. They're not really just movies in our company. One of the reasons why we view those acquisitions as being so attractive is because they grow our business in multiple ways. We've talked about Star Wars lands in our parks. We haven't talked much about consumer products, but you look at the enormous growth of consumer products since we've made those acquisitions. That's enabled the company to benefit from multiple businesses, and I believe those benefits will continue long term. We are much more diverse than we used to be, and we probably will continue to be that way into the future.
I guess my question too should be addressed to the how do we, or has the board given any ideas to strategically, to perceptually change the market's view of the company into more equi-weighting its different divisions?
Well,
I realize-
I'm sorry.
Yeah. That was just my question is, are we considering to maybe give more import and quality, and percentage values to our studios and consumer values and sort of de-emphasizing a little bit the ESPN so that the emotionality of all this, the sky is falling, doesn't particularly happen.
Well, thank you for your advice on that. We have talked about it as a board. In fact, we've talked about it the last two board meetings very actively, and we'll continue to do so. I think if you just look at the body presentation today and all those movies that we showed and the discussions about our parks, I think there's already a fair balance at the company. We did show ESPN, but we should appropriately show ESPN. As far as perception goes, we spend a fair amount of time dealing with the press and dealing with investors and trying to make sure that they appreciate all of the different elements of this company. There's just so much that we can influence and so much that we can control.
I'll be speaking at an investor conference on Tuesday, I guarantee I'll be talking about this very same subject just next week. It's work that we have to do, but in the end, we feel very confident about the ESPN business long term, and we feel great about our company long term.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
See you in Glendale.
Okay. Meet you at Bob's.
It's a good name, too. Go ahead.
I'm Mary Jo Barton, stockholder from Chicago, Illinois. In the time, one of my nephews and I stayed through the entire list of all of the credits for Frozen, we were watching with interest because it's a very long, extensive list. Way down at the bottom, I mean within the last 10 or at most 12 people, there was listed a caffeinator. He said, "Look at that. Caffeinator?" I said, "Well, somebody has to plug in the coffee machine." In conjunction with that, I saw the American Experience program on Walt Disney back to the first big strike in 1946. I wonder, does a caffeinator or anyone in the bottom, whatever percentage of credits, earn a living wage?
I can't speak for that caffeinator because I don't know who that caffeinator was or where they came from. We have, we believe, treated our cast across the board very fairly on a number of different levels, including their compensation, their benefits, their work conditions, the opportunities that we provide to them. We recently raised compensation across a number of our different functions to, if I recall, roughly $10 an hour with increases over the next few years. Those were mostly for employees who were covered under collective bargaining agreements, but also for all hourly employees. We believe that it's important for The Walt Disney Company and its standing in the public to maintain the competitiveness when it comes to not only how we compensate our employees, but the conditions that they work under and the opportunities that they're given.
We feel we have a very good record in this regard. We've also had a great relationship with a number of unions and have had no work stoppages to speak of and generally good relations with them through collective bargaining over the years. A track record that we're proud of.
It does lead to the wider question of the new Securities and Exchange Commission rules about coming up with a median salary figure for the difference between the billionaires and everybody else. Where does Disney World stand on that?
Well, there's an obligation that the company will have to report that in for fiscal 2018, so that would be reported in 2019. We will comply with the law on that.
You couldn't give an, I mean, you're not willing to say at this point what-
We have-
your situation is?
We haven't talked about doing that, no.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm Tom Kesson from Cincinnati, Ohio, a shareholder. I've got three questions real quick. One, when is the ESPN contract with the NFL end? Two, is there anybody from Marvel here? Because I'd like to ask him a question outside of the shareholders. Three, on the Marvel made by movies by other studios I heard a rumor that we get 5% off the top of that. Is that showed in the shareholder's folder of the money that comes in?
The first question is 2020, 2021 is the NFL, the expiration of the NFL agreement with ESPN. I don't believe anybody from Marvel is here.
Okay.
What was your specific question about that? Maybe there's a chance I know.
Well, I wanted to ask them about their little shorts they used to put in the DVDs called the One-Shots.
Right. I don't think there are any that are being made right now.
Well,
I know that they were good, though.
Oh, yeah. They were.
We do participate in the business of some other studios making Marvel movies. These were license deals that were done before we acquired Marvel. They're legacy deals, we were well aware of them beforehand. Whatever monies come to us, flow to us from the creation and distribution of those films, obviously would be reflected in our bottom line. Even though they add up, not any one of them is large enough to be of the kind of materiality or material enough probably to be singled out in any of our public filings. They certainly would be part of the revenue and the bottom line of our businesses.
Okay.
For instance, Deadpool would be an example. I'm not commenting about the percentage. An extremely successful movie made by Fox Studios that we have a participation in.
In my opinion, with the way Disney history is, let Deadpool stay with 20th Century because I would prefer G, PG, but nothing R-rated to Disney.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir.
We don't have any plans to make R-rated Marvel movies. Thank you.
Well done. The president was sits in the second row.
Okay. There are a lot of people standing. We're running out of time. I'm going to take two more questions. Yes.
Hi, Mr. Iger. My name is Sarah Connors. I'm originally from Boston, and I've been on 16 Disney cruises. The two cruise ship announcement is awesome.
Thank you.
I work in programmatic digital advertising, as a cord-cutting millennial, I am most concerned with how the leadership of this company is going to continue to make sure that Disney and ESPN does not fall behind in this ever-changing world of technology.
Well, as I said earlier, we spend a tremendous amount of time thinking about this. We start by not allowing ourselves to be stuck in the past or even the present or have our heads in the sand. We know that the world is changing, particularly as it relates to media and media consumption, we aim to change along with it, which means that it's imperative for us to keep all of our program channels or our programming relevant by putting them on new platforms and making them more readily accessible and more user-friendly to consumers, we're working hard on that. DisneyLife, which was mentioned earlier, is an example of that. ESPN has done a tremendous amount of work in that regard, too, if you download the ESPN app and you watch ESPN, you will see an example of that.
Although you can't watch ESPN on the app unless you resubscribe to multi-channel TV right now. We are in all kinds of discussions as it relates to this. We believe that the so-called expanded basic bundle, the multi-channel TV package, will continue to be the dominant form that people subscribe to or get television into the future. We also believe that people will want and find other ways to receive TV, too, we plan to be part of those initiatives as well. Again, we are not complacent about it. We're well aware of what's been either speculated or what's happened to date.
I'm confident that given the investment that this company has made in its brands and its intellectual property and the fact that we continue to innovate, continue to strive for great quality, that no matter what changes occur in the environment long term, we're going to be fine. I was heartened, by the way, by the comment from the gentleman earlier saying he just watches Disney. He just wants Disney. Well, that's the result of a tremendous amount of investment and a tremendous amount of creativity under the Disney brand umbrella, you'll see that at Marvel and at Lucas and at Pixar, at ABC, at ESPN, et cetera.
Thank you.
Thank you. Okay, I'm going to go to a different voice number 1. Yes.
Good morning, Mr. Iger. My name is Lorelei Lenart, and I am from Streamwood, Illinois. I would like to ask, what is your favorite Disney movie?
I get asked about my favorite Disney movie, my favorite Disney character. I guess today it's Orange Bird. Can I name Pixar? Does Pixar count, too? That counts, right? I thought the first Toy Story movie remains my favorite, in part because I thought it was so groundbreaking, and I thought it changed animation in such profound ways. I also remember being taken to see Cinderella with my grandparents in the 1950s, so that holds a special place in my heart, and I was thrilled that we brought Cinderella back last year in live action. I thought we did a great job with that, too. What's yours?
I have many favorites.
That's good.
I can name one of them, The Good Dinosaur.
That's good. Yeah, that's a recent one. I was certain you were going to say Frozen. No. Okay. Okay. I'm curious when you see Zootopia, you should let us know what you think of that. It may shoot to number 1 on your list. I'm excited to see it. Okay, thank you. Bye. Thank you.
Mr. Iger?
Yes.
I have a question. This fine young lady, Lorelei, purchased her first share of stock this past December. She did it taking the money out of her savings account and decided that she couldn't make anything in the traditional banking environment. Smart girl. She also said when she opened that savings account about one year ago today, that with her $306, that in 10 years she would make $1 million. I applaud her for such lofty goals. I'm curious, what was the first share that you ever purchased or owned, and what did it lead to?
The first share of The Walt Disney Company that I ever purchased and owned?
Any.
Wow. I grew up with very little means, I really could not put money into buying shares of any companies until I was meaningfully employed, which was when I was 23 years old. The first stock that I invested in was ABC.
Wow.
Yeah. It's done all right for me. It became part of Capital Cities/ABC in 1985, then Disney in 1995. I don't know what that stock would be worth today, but I think I've done all right with it.
Absolutely.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Roy, did you want to say something or not?
Thank you.
Where Roy? Excuse me, Roy, would you like to say something or not? I'm sorry. I was told you wanted to speak. We can get you a mic, sure. I was just told that you wanted to say something. This is Roy Disney. Roy.
Thank you. Thank you, Bob. No, it really wasn't a question. Although Dumbo is my favorite movie, just so you all know.
1941, huh? Dumbo.
Yeah. In fact, there is some trivia about that I will tell you later.
You look a lot younger than someone who would have seen Dumbo. I am teasing.
Yeah, I juice.
This is a Disney meeting. Go ahead.
I just wanted to say thank you and congratulations to you for your incredibly nimble leadership. I want to say congratulations to the board you've surrounded yourself with. They're brilliant, accomplished, nonlinear thinkers and forward-thinking, which is exactly what this company needs. The stock is at 98 today, market cap of just short of $160 billion. In 1984, when Michael and Frank came on board, it was worth about $2.25 billion-$2.5 billion. That's a tribute to being nimble and being true to the core of the company. I'm also excited tomorrow I'm going to see Walt's house for the first time. Both Walt and Roy are Chicago natives. Elias came to Chicago as a builder to work on the World's Fair, and one of the things he built was that house. It's a tribute to the building of that house that it still stands today.
I think it's a core value that Walt got instilled in him to do it once, do it right, and do it with quality, that this company is still true to today. I want to say thank you for that.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Roy. Appreciate it. Thank you for coming. Okay. We're going to adjourn this session. I want to thank you all for coming. In particular, I want to thank you all for your continued support, and thank you Chicago for hosting us this week. Thank you.