The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Good morning, Denver. We actually had our annual shareholder meeting here in 2003. We're back again. In 2003, when we arrived, the weather was beautiful. It started to snow and snow and snow. The result was that there were very few shareholders here, a fair amount of management people. We were here for about four or five days, actually the longest shareholder meeting that we've ever had. We're back. We like Denver. Thanks. That video is a great way to start the morning because it tells the story of The Walt Disney Company certainly better than words ever could. It showcases the phenomenal content and experiences that we create. It also captures and celebrates the personal connections that we have with hundreds of millions of people around the world.
For me, it's a great reminder of what makes Disney so extraordinary and what a tremendous privilege it is to lead this company and to work with almost 200,000 cast members who put their heart and soul into adding joy and wonder to the world. We've been bringing people together with great entertainment for almost a century. The key to our success really has always been great storytelling. Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and ABC, they're more than just an unparalleled portfolio of tremendous brands and franchises. They represent the largest single collection of visionary storytellers in the world. Thanks to them, we have a great story to tell today. Let's start with one of our crowning achievements of 2016, the grand opening of the Shanghai Disney Resort, which was one of the proudest and most important moments in the history of this legendary company.
The park is a creative, technological, and architectural tour de force. It's really unlike anything we've ever done before. Our Imagineers clearly outdid themselves. It's even more spectacular than we all imagined. Today, almost 8 million people have already visited Shanghai Disneyland. They're telling their friends and families all about it. Their rave reviews are driving excitement for that park really across all of China. We're absolutely thrilled with the response. We expect more than 10 million people to visit this park by its first anniversary, which is this June. We're already working on expansion. Our new Toy Story Land opens in 2018.
Bringing Shanghai Disneyland from dream to reality was a 17-year journey, and it's been a thrill to see the park come alive with people of all ages, many of them experiencing a Disney theme park for the first time in their lives. There's just this wonderful sense of joy and excitement when the park is full. For us, we're incredibly proud of the fact that only Disney really could create such an extraordinary experience for the people of China. 2016 wasn't just a historic year for parks. It was also the best year ever for our studio, with four films topping $1 billion in global box office and a fifth coming awfully close. In fact, we became the first studio, the only studio actually in the history of the movie business, to exceed $7 billion in box office in a single year. The winning streak continues.
Our first standalone Star Wars story, Rogue One, broke $1 billion in global box office. Marvel's Doctor Strange topped $675 million, and Moana from Disney Animation achieved more than $580 million at the box office. It also earned Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature and Original Song. We actually swept the animation category at the Oscars this year. Zootopia won the Oscar for the Best Animated Feature. That was our fifth straight win in a row, by the way, for feature animation. Pixar's Piper won for Animated Short. Since we acquired Pixar in 2006, there have been a total of 10 Oscars awarded for feature animation, and Disney and Pixar Animation have won nine of them. Creative success drives opportunity across our entire company, especially at Consumer Products, which has deepened the affection for our beloved characters.
It's also created 11 major franchises, and each one's generating more than $1 billion in global retail sales. Quite an achievement. With significant contributions from all of our businesses, we're happy to report that fiscal 2016 was our sixth consecutive year of record results. Thank you. Revenue was up 6% to a record $55.6 billion. Net income increased by 12% to an all-time high of $9.4 billion. Our earnings per share were up 17% to $5.73. That set another record as well. We're proud of these results and the fact that over the last five years, our annualized growth has been 14% in net income and 18% in earnings per share.
To give you an even broader perspective, from fiscal 2006 through fiscal 2016, we delivered total shareholder return of over 350%, far outperforming the 123% return that was delivered by the S&P during the same period. Thank you. We've also increased our market cap from $46 billion to about $175 billion today. That kind of growth comes from investing and taking the right risks to deliver the greatest returns for our company and our shareholders. In addition to our financial performance, our growth has also created jobs. In fact, since 2005, we have added over 30,000 new jobs in the U.S. alone. Our ongoing multibillion-dollar expansions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World will add thousands of new cast members while creating even more jobs and opportunities for many local businesses and workers.
As we look ahead, we see plenty of opportunity for growth across our entire company, including our media networks. In fact, since the dawn of video iPod, our content has been in high demand by virtually every new platform imaginable. Everyone that enters the market wants a piece of Disney content. In a world of overwhelming choice, consumers are seeking out our great brands like Disney and Pixar and Marvel and Star Wars, ESPN and ABC. In fact, they're often at the top of the list. Speaking of great brands, here is a quick reminder of why millions of people every day check out ESPN. As you can see, nothing really compares to the excitement and drama of live sports, and ESPN brings more live sports to people in more ways than anyone else.
Sports fans have turned to ESPN for the best in sports programming for the better part of four decades now. Even in this evolving marketplace, the connection between ESPN and sports fans is stronger than ever. Each new platform and device gives more people more ways to enjoy ESPN's content, from the best in live sports to groundbreaking programming like this year's Oscar-winning documentary, O.J.: Made in America. You can already get ESPN on a variety of new multichannel platforms and services and a growing number of mobile apps. By the end of this year, we'll also be streaming a new ESPN-branded experience directly to consumers through our partnership with BAMTech and Major League Baseball.
Earlier I mentioned the ongoing expansion in parks and resorts, and we're now just a couple of months away from the May 27th grand opening of Pandora, The World of Avatar at Walt Disney World in Orlando. There's a lot of excitement about this new addition to Disney's Animal Kingdom, and we think for good reason, as these pictures suggest. Our Imagineers pushed the limits of creativity and engineering and technology to bring the breathtaking world of Avatar to life, and the result is a fantastic one-of-a-kind experience. In fact, one of the most beautiful lands that we've ever created. We just can't wait for everybody to see it. Progress is also continuing on two Star Wars-themed lands, one at Disneyland in California and the other at Disney World in Florida.
We're creating a jaw-dropping experience here to transport you into the world of Star Wars and that great storytelling. In fact, right in the middle of an epic battle between the First Order and the Resistance. If you've ever wanted to pilot the Millennium Falcon, you'll finally get a chance to do so when these incredible lands open up in 2019. We're also looking forward to welcoming our first guests aboard the newer ships in our Disney Cruise Line once they hit the seas in 2021 and 2023. As I mentioned earlier, our studio is on a roll. The 2017 slate includes a number of great films from Pixar and Marvel and Disney and, of course, Lucasfilm. One of the movies that we're most excited about is just coming up, Beauty and the Beast. We're not the only ones to be excited about this.
The first trailer that we launched drew more than 127 million views in its first 24 hours alone, and that broke the record that we'd already set with The Force Awakens. Whenever you take on one of Disney's most beloved stories, the stakes we know are quite high, and so are the expectations. I can tell you this movie does not disappoint at all. It's beautiful, it's heartfelt, and it is fantastic. I know that we've got a lot of Beauty and the Beast fans here who've waited a long time for this movie. It opens March 17th. I want to share a quick look with all of you. First time we're showing this to anyone. Enjoy the clip. Pretty good.
We're also looking to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Volume II, marking the return of the lovable cast of misfits who were in the original Guardians, which was a huge blockbuster hit. It's a great movie full of Marvel's trademark action and humor, and I've got a feeling that our character Baby Groot is going to become a real breakout star, as you'll see. Hard to believe that's Vin Diesel's voice. Oh well, never mind. We've got another fantastic Marvel film headed to the theaters this fall. That's Thor: Ragnarok. That's the third installment of our Thor series. To make it even more exciting, Thor teams up this time around with one of Marvel's most popular characters from their whole universe, and that's the Incredible Hulk. He and Thor team up for make quite a team, actually.
By the way, you can look forward to a lot more Marvel storytelling. As we speak, the studio is already in production on Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther, and development and early production is underway on Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as Captain Marvel, which will feature our first female superhero starring film. That's Brie Larson that is playing Captain Marvel, Academy Award winner Brie Larson. Later this spring, we're bringing another great Disney franchise back. A lot of activity at the studio. Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow for a new adventure on the high seas in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales." This summer, Pixar's long-awaited "Cars 3" takes us back into the defined world of "Cars," where lots happened since Lightning McQueen first took the racing world by storm.
This time around, he's facing a whole new generation of competitors, including our first female racer named Cruz Ramirez. We're also looking forward to the Thanksgiving release of another original Pixar movie, a heartwarming celebration of family and music. It's called "Coco," reflecting the rich heritage of Mexico, and it features a stellar all-Latino cast. This is also a big year for Star Wars fans, we know. Our first Star Wars film, as you remember, was "The Force Awakens." It wowed audience and critics alike, became the only film in history to reach $900 million in domestic box office before it ultimately crossed $2 billion worldwide. We know the next episode has to be fantastic, and it is. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is a perfect chapter in the iconic Skywalker family saga that has enthralled fans for many generations.
When we last saw Rey at the end of "The Force Awakens," if you remember, she had just found Luke Skywalker in his faraway refuge on that cliff, on that island. Here is a reminder of that dramatic moment. Okay. As I think most of you know, we make a point of revealing very little from our upcoming Star Wars films. Very little. We wanna keep them a secret. We're making an exception today, and we're gonna show you an exclusive first look at what happens right after that scene when that lightsaber was being handed to its rightful owner. Right after it. Like I said, we make a point of revealing very little. A lot's happened in two years, right? He took it. Such a tease. All right.
Actually, if you were watching closely at that opening video that we showed before I came out, it actually had quite a few moments from our upcoming Star Wars film, "The Last Jedi." Just to make sure you didn't miss anything, because it probably all went by fast and was mixed in with a variety of other footage, I thought we'd show you just the scenes in that early video from "The Last Jedi." As you know, Carrie Fisher has been an iconic part of this franchise from the beginning, and she will always hold a very special place in the hearts of millions of Star Wars fans around the world and in our hearts. We all miss her. She had great talent and wit, and she was a great friend as well, and we're proud that this movie coming up is part of her legacy.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi" will open December 15th in the U.S., and as one of the few people that's already seen the entire movie, I can promise you it is worth the wait. A lot more happens in it than what you saw today. Our next standalone Star Wars story is going to explore the origin of Han Solo, and that's gonna be in theaters in 2018. After that, Star Wars Episode IX, which is currently in production, will be back in 2019. From the moment that I accepted this job, my goal was for The Walt Disney Company to be one of the most admired companies in the world. Respected not just for our product and what we do, but for who we are and what we stand for.
Today, I'm proud to say that Disney is widely recognized, and applauded for our achievements, but also for our values. Our commitment and determination to be a stellar corporate citizen with a positive impact on the world has always been driven by a strong set of inspirational and aspirational values, and that they define everything that we do and who we are. Our values include equality, inclusion, fairness, and optimism, of course, and they're reflected across every aspect of our company, including our storytelling, whether it's Star Wars or Zootopia from our studio, or Black-ish, Speechless from ABC, or Disney Channel programs like Doc McStuffins and Elena of Avalor. Our values are also evident in our efforts to make a difference in the world and in the lives of others. For example, we believe that America's military veterans deserve to be at the front of the employment line.
Through our groundbreaking Heroes Work Here initiative, we've hired more than 8,000 vets across our company and helped another 15,000 find jobs outside of Disney. That was actually an initiative. Thank you. We announced that initiative at a shareholder meeting just a few years ago. We made a lot of progress. We've also significantly stepped up our support for veteran entrepreneurs, and we've increased the money that we spend with veteran-owned companies and businesses each year from what was about $100,000 a year to more than $3.3 million. We also believe that nothing is more important than the happiness and well-being of children, and we invest millions of dollars each year in programs that are focused on that goal. In fact, Walt Disney's personal commitment to bring our beloved characters to entertain children in local hospitals has now grown into a global program with lasting impact.
Since 2006, we've donated more than $40 million to children's hospitals around the world to help create a better environment for kids and families during what we all know is some of the most difficult moments in their lives. Our support gives children's hospitals from California to Florida to the U.K., and even China, more resources to build the facilities, hire specialists, and obtain state-of-the-art equipment that they need to better serve families in their communities. We're also providing playrooms and other resources to make hospital stays a little bit less scary for young patients, bringing a little of the Disney magic to where we think it's needed most. Thank you. Our values are part of our DNA, just like creativity and innovation, our unwavering commitment to the ideals of equality and inclusion and fairness and optimism will always be essential to our success.
Leading this remarkable company is both a thrill and a privilege of a lifetime for me, and I grow appreciative of this opportunity with each passing day as I reflect and I realize that even after everything that we have achieved, the best days of The Walt Disney Company really are still ahead of us. Now, that's optimism. I want to thank our cast members as well around the world. I mentioned there are 200,000 strong, just about. They continue to raise the bar every day to create extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of people. I know several of our cast members are here in Denver today. Many more are listening on a webcast.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say that one of the reasons that I'm so optimistic and confident about the future of our company is because I'm constantly inspired by your dedication and your creativity. I also want to thank our shareholders for your continued support. We're going to continue to strive to earn your confidence and respect every day. Finally, I want to thank our board of directors for their enthusiasm and support as we continue to build the future of this phenomenal company. I'd like to introduce our board of directors to you, starting with our Lead Director, Orin Smith. Orin. Orin, formerly President and CEO of Starbucks. Susan Arnold is an Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group and is retired from Procter & Gamble, where she was the company's Vice Chairman. I don't think there are lights on our board.
John Chen is Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackBerry Limited. Fred Langhammer is Chairman, Global Affairs of Estée Lauder. Aylwin Lewis is Chairman, CEO and President of Potbelly Sandwich Works. Bob Matschullat is private equity investor and a former vice chairman and CFO of The Seagram Company. Sheryl Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. Jack Dorsey is CEO of Twitter and Chairman and CEO of Square. Maria Elena Lagomasino is CEO and managing partner of WE Family Offices. Mark Parker is Chairman and President and CEO of Nike. Mark. One more time, I'd like to ask our board of directors to stand and be recognized. Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. One more introduction before we begin the business portion of the meeting, I want to acknowledge a very special guest, a friend of the company. We're proud to have Roy P. Disney
with us today. Thank you for coming, Roy. Now it's time to move on to the formal portion of the 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. You've already voted by proxy, so you do not need to vote again. If you haven't yet voted or if you want to change your vote, you may do that now. Please raise your hand if you need a ballot to vote. We might want to turn the lights up if we can just so that we can see the people raising their hands. Thank you. Ballots need to be turned in by the end of the business portion of this meeting, and we will collect them at some point before this meeting ends.
Copies of the rules for the meeting were provided at the registration table, and I would like to ask everyone's cooperation in respecting the rules, including speaking time limits and assisting us in the orderly conduct of this business. Now, we have 6 items on the agenda today, including 2 shareholder proposals. I will introduce each of the first 4 items, and shareholder representatives will present the 2 shareholder proposals. After all 6 items have been presented, there will be an opportunity for any shareholder who is interested to address any of those items. The polls will close, and we will hear a preliminary report from the Inspector of Election and adjourn the business portion of this meeting. After that, we will have a general question-and-answer period.
The company has retained Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions as Inspector of Election for this meeting, and I would now like to introduce Belinda Massafra, a representative of Broadridge, and ask her to report on the number of outstanding shares present today and voting. Belinda?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As of the close of business on January 9th, 2017, the record date for this meeting, there were 1,583,831,140 shares of common stock outstanding, each of which is entitled to one vote. There are at least 1,347,442,549 shares of common stock represented by proxy at this meeting, which represents at least 85% of the total number of shares entitled to vote.
Thank you very much. Based on this report, I declare that a quorum is present, that this meeting is qualified to proceed with the business before us, that the polls are now open. The first item is the election of the 11 members of the board of directors. Each director holds office for a term of one year. Those nominated for election at this meeting, in addition to me, are the board members that I just introduced. As you all know, the board recommends a vote for the election of all the nominees. The next item is the 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 our board of directors. Bob Barrett, a representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers, is here today to respond to any questions.
The board recommends a vote for the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company's independent registered accountants for fiscal 2017. The next item is the advisory vote on executive compensation. We are seeking advisory shareholder approval of the compensation of our named executive officers, the board recommends a vote for this proposal for the reasons set out in our proxy statement. The next item is the frequency of votes on executive compensation. We're required to present executive compensation for advisory approval either every year, every other year, or every three years, we are required to ask shareholders periodically how often they prefer to hold such a vote. The board recommends that we continue the practice of holding these votes every year. The next item is a proposal represented by Zevin Asset Management. The full text of the proposal is set forth in the proxy statement.
I understand that Ken Jacobs, a representative of the shareholder, is here to present this proposal, I invite him to do so now. Mr. Jacobs?
Thank you, good morning.
Morning.
I'm Ken Jacobs, on behalf of Zevin Asset Management, I hereby move shareholder proposal number 1, which asks our company to provide a report on its lobbying expenditures, including indirect funding of lobbying through trade associations. As shareholders, we encourage transparency and accountability in the use of staff time and corporate funds used to influence legislation and regulation, both directly and indirectly. As such, we're concerned that Disney's disclosure of lobbying lacks transparency and accountability. The company does not issue a comprehensive report of its own direct lobbying. That data is scattered among federal and state regulators and is difficult for investors to obtain. Disney also fails to provide comprehensive disclosure of its memberships in, and payments to, trade associations, as well as the portions of those dues payments used for lobbying.
Disney only discloses when candidates receive donations from organizations that the company gives to and ignores those organizations' separate lobbying activities. Disney does not disclose any associations that receive less than $50,000 from the company. Given Disney's byzantine disclosure, the shareholders remain concerned that company assets could be used for objectives that are contrary to Disney's long-term interests and might ultimately harm shareholder value. Disney has attracted negative media attention for some of its direct and indirect lobbying. Around minimum wage and sick leave in Florida and California, as well as around immigration policy. Investors are especially concerned about risks arising when trade associations and coalitions supported by Disney lobby on issues which are contrary to Disney's beliefs and values. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website, Disney joined as a member in 1922.
Disney remains a member, although information on Disney's relationship with the Chamber is not disclosed publicly. Disney and its board should be alarmed that the Chamber attacked the EPA's proposed climate change solutions despite leadership from Disney on climate change issues. Disney is also listed as a member of the National Restaurant Association. The National Restaurant Association has spent $ millions at the state level over sick leave policies and worked with the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, to stop local measures to enact paid sick leave laws by passing state laws preempting any local measures. Consumers would be alarmed to learn that such lobbying is enabled by Disney, one of the world's most visible companies and an entertainment maker with a precious reputation for being family-friendly. Such activity is not only potentially at odds with the company's long-term interests and objectives, it also endangers Disney's reputation.
The risks associated with lobbying and trade association membership make it clear that we need better and more complete disclosure of how Disney uses its resources to affect legislation. We currently have no way of knowing how Disney's lobbying priorities are defined and prioritized. Lobbying disclosure will help us better evaluate whether Disney's lobbying and trade association expenditures and actions advance the long-term interest of shareholders, employees, and customers. Lobbying disclosure is part of governance best practice. The International Corporate Governance Network, representing the institutional investors with more than $26 trillion in assets, supports lobbying disclosure and disclosure of trade association payments over $10,000. As a corporate leader, Disney can play an exemplary role to demonstrate best practices in this area. This proposal is not about limiting lobbying. It's about transparency and managing the risks associated with undisclosed, unexamined political activity.
Publicly available data currently does not provide a complete picture of Disney's lobbying expenditures. Better disclosure will enable shareholders to evaluate the use of corporate assets for lobbying and the risks that opaque political spending poses. It will serve the company in the process. We urge stockholders to vote for this proposal. Thank you.
Thank you very much. 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 James McRitchie. The full text of this proposal is set forth in the proxy statement. I understand that Mr. Jacobs will also present this proposal. I invite him back to the mic to do so now.
Thank you.
Mr. Jacobs.
Okay. This is related to ballot issue number 6 or number 2, depending on how you interpret things. It relates to shareholder proxy access amendments. On behalf of James McRitchie, let me present the following. The proposal asks the board to make 3 amendments to our company's proxy access bylaws, which allow shareholders holding 3% of shares or about $5 billion continuously for 3 years to nominate 2 directors and place their names on the proxy. First, it asks that shareholders be enabled to nominate 25% of the board instead of 20%. With 12 board members, that would allow 3 such nominations instead of 2. As we've seen with women on boards, it often takes more than 2 to change the boardroom culture. Second, Disney's bylaws limit the number of shareholders who can form a nominating group to 20.
Each would have to hold an average of $158 million in stock continuously for over 3 years. I emphasize continuously. During the last reporting quarter, 9% of shares owned by the top 50 institutional shareholders at Disney traded hands. Over the course of 3 years, there are 12 quarters. If each shareholder traded an average of 9% of their shares each quarter, how many of these shares from 3 years ago do they still own today? Disney's proxy access is largely an illusion. Third, the proposal asks that the cap on shareholder re-nominating process proxy access candidates be removed. It often takes a year or 2 for a new idea or candidate to gain traction. Just as the word natural does not mean organic, the current proxy access at Disney does not mean shareholders can actually nominate even a single director.
We ask the board to remove the cap on shareholders to conform nominating groups and make the other suggested changes. Real proxy access will drive a competition for ideas and talent among board candidates and will create direct accountability to us, the shareholders. Please vote in favor of this proxy resolution.
Thank you very much. The Board of Directors has recommended a vote against this proposal for the reasons set out in the proxy statement. At this point, I will open the floor to discussion of any of the items that have just been presented. If you would like to address one of the items, please proceed to a microphone and wait to be recognized. Please state your name and identify which item you wish to address, then proceed with your remarks. Please limit your remarks to 2 minutes in order to give other shareholders an opportunity to be heard. Note that we will have a general question and answer session following the business portion of the meeting, please limit your remarks at this time to just those items that have been presented.
Do I have anyone that would like to comment on any of the items that have been presented? Station 1, sir.
Hi. Good morning. Thanks. My name is Justin Danhof. I am from the National Center for Public Policy Research, we encourage all shareholders here to reject shareholder proposal number 1 presented by Zevin Asset Management. Everyone knows Zevin is part of a far-left network of organizations that attempt to use American corporations to silence speech and defund advocates of free enterprise. This network has filed hundreds of resolutions complaining about alleged lack of transparency and accountability in corporate lobbying and political activity. However, groups such as Zevin never, I mean never, express concern about the billions of corporate dollars that go to fund liberal causes and politicians. Herein lies the hypocrisy of its proposal. Zevin abhors corporate speech when it is perceived to skew to the political right. It remains silent, however, when speech supports leftist causes that they favor.
Today, Zevin is attempting to conscript Disney shareholders into its efforts to defund and silence the National Restaurant Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, groups that seek to improve America's business environment. Let that sink in. They want to defund groups that try and improve the environment for American business. Concerning Disney's relationship with the National Restaurant Association, the proponent claims, no doubt, Disney's membership dues to the association go to lobbying against fair pay and working conditions. This is baseless. The National Restaurant Association works to expand employee freedoms in a way that positively impacts millions of Americans and combats onerous state and federal regulation. Concerning Disney's relationship with the Chamber of Commerce, Zevin fully admits that it doesn't know if Disney, "Is currently belongs to the chamber," still wants the company's investors to reject the chamber because of its opposition to unnecessary and costly environmental regulations.
Zevin's guilt by association tactics harken back to an era when folks were asked, "Are you now or have you ever been?" That's an issue Disney knows something about. Zevin's proposal holds no relevance for Disney, no relevance for us investors. It's simply trying to use us to censor those that they cannot otherwise censor because our Constitution protects free speech. Don't let Zevin silence free speech and dictate Disney's business relationships. Please vote no on shareholder proposal one.
Thank you. Yes, station two. Comment on any of those proposals that have already been made, sir.
Yeah. First, I'd like to say I'm here as a proxy for the MCG Group Trust. I support Zevin's political transparency resolution. I'd like to comment on Disney's political dealings. My name is Robel Worku. I'm a community organizer with the Colorado People's Alliance, which is an affiliate of People's Action. I'm also the son of two Ethiopian immigrants, and I'm a Canadian immigrant myself. As a person from an immigrant family and a Black family, I don't feel that the values you gave lip service to earlier in your presentation, and that are also espoused in Disney's films, are reflected in your decisions as a corporation. Namely, by sitting on Trump's Economic Advisory Council, I think that Disney as a corporation is tacitly endorsing the Trump agenda.
Part of that agenda includes rolling back independent oversight of police departments across the country, ensuring a lack of accountability for police officers who commit violence against our communities, and a lack of justice for the victims of that violence. While the Trump administration refuses to hold police departments in check, it also stands by and allows corporations to profit from the unjust incarceration of Black and Brown people. You spoke earlier about a movie, Coco, coming out with an all-Latino cast. While I do commend that, I would like to note that there are Latino communities and other communities, both throughout the state of Colorado and throughout the country, that face a daily fear of being deported and having their families torn apart.
People in our communities are afraid to leave their houses to even drive their kids to school because they are afraid of being picked up by ICE and never making it back home. Disney holding this relationship with President Trump is an endorsement of these policies. I would also like to mention that this relationship is functionally bad for your bottom line. Over 500,000 people have signed a petition demanding that you step down from the Business Advisory Council. One quote reads, "As an African-American family, we will not support Disney at this time. We will not visit Disney nor buy Disney shares for our grandchild while you are dealing with President Trump's Business Council." I could stand here all day reading quotes of folks who are boycotting Disney over this. I think you get my point.
For these reasons and many, many more, I, along with over 500,000 other people, are demanding that you, Disney CEO Bob Iger, cut your ties with the Trump administration, and I am asking you if you will step down from President Trump's Business Advisory Council.
Okay, sir. Thank you. I let you speak for two minutes on what was supposed to be just a comment on those proposals that have been made. There will be time for other people to comment on other subjects in the general Q&A session. I expected it would be raised today. I just want to say that I am well aware that there are a number of people who have protested the fact that I decided to join that group. I made a decision that I thought it was in the best interest of our company and of our industry to have an opportunity to express specific point of views directly to the President of the United States and to his administration.
I did not believe, nor do I believe, that my membership in that group in any way endorses or supports any specific policy of the President or his administration. I think it is actually a privileged opportunity to have a voice in the room. I am a big fan of the great musical that has been on Broadway for a few years, Hamilton. There is a song in it where one of the characters sings, "I wanna be in the room where it happens." I think there is an opportunity when you are in the room where it happens to express opinions that I believe would be in the best interest of this company and its shareholders. I respect your opinion. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have any other comments on the proposals that have been made? Is there someone at that? I cannot see. Sir, do you have a comment? Mike?
Nope. Just please, I mention again, we will have a general Q&A. We're trying to move on from the business portion of the meeting to that general Q&A, and there are a number of people with a number of questions. If you have something to say about the shareholder proposals or anything that the board of directors and the company have put forward in the proxy, please feel free.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jennifer Epps-Addison. I am here by proxy representing union pension funds for hardworking members of unions across this country. I'm also the president of the Center for Popular Democracy, a national community organizing network with 43 affiliates in 30 states across the country, and we're here to speak in favor of transparency and accountability and the future of this company. I am a Disney family. If you go to my Facebook page, you will see a half a dozen trips to Disney since my kids were born nine years ago. You will see my kids dressed up for Halloween as Disney characters. You will see that the fabric and the values of this company are embedded in our family.
That's why I'm so concerned about the lack of transparency and about the involvement of this company in suppressing workers' rights, in harming everybody's ability to earn a fair dollar, to earn a fair wage for their hard work. We aren't sure exactly how lobbying expenditures are used in this company, and that's exactly why we're here asking for transparency, not to shut down anybody's voice, but to allow shareholders as well as consumers to be able to make an informed decision. Over 200,000 people made an informed decision when they deleted their Uber accounts for the association with President Trump. We believe that consumers in this country deserve the ability to make a decision about how they will engage with this company.
If we truly believe in fairness and opportunity and equity, then we should see those values represented not just in our characters, but actually in the way that we use our political voice. We can't determine how your political voice is being used right now. In all fairness, while I'm sure you firmly believe that you're representing the best interest of this company when you sit on Trump's advisory council, we don't know that because we haven't seen the proof in your expenditures and how this company is using their lobbying. We believe that having access to those records will help us make good decisions for our families about whether or not we want to continue to be shareholders and invest in this company. We believe that this bottom line will be hurt if you do not step away from this president, from this racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant administration.
We believe, like with Uber, thousands of families who would have gone on their summer vacation, who would have supported our movies, who would have been proud brand ambassadors, will make a different decision with their vacations and with their money. We ask that you step away from the corporate council and that you support transparency and inclusiveness. More than 500,000, more than a half a million people across this country have joined us, I have those petitions outside ready to deliver for you if you'd like to take them.
Good. Thank you very much. We'd be glad to take them. Thank you. Okay. I don't believe there are any other comments on those proposals. If there are no further comments, this concludes consideration of all of the items presented. Oh, I'm sorry. The light just went on. On one of the
One more response to one of the proposals.
Okay. Thank you.
Yes. My name is Arthur Nishioka. I am a happy shareholder from San Diego. I am here to express my support for the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers to be the company's auditor. In light of the recent televised events hosted by the company's Jimmy Kimmel, I am curious if the audit committee has addressed the topic of complacency. Thank you.
Thank you. I can tell you we have not had an audit committee meeting since the Academy Awards. I would have to refer to our audit chairman, Mr. Matschullat, to see whether it is on the agenda. I can say that the chairman of PwC called me and other members of my senior management team directly to both explain what happened and to apologize for what happened. It seemed to be an extremely embarrassing human error. I told the chairman of PwC that I did not think it should affect our relationship with them in any negative way. I respected the fact and appreciated the fact that he called. I thought that it was an honest human mistake, and I left it to him to contend with it in terms of how it affected his company.
I really do not believe that it can or will affect the relationship that we have had with PwC, which has been a good one. Thank you. Do we have more?
One more response.
Thank you.
Chairman Iger, members of the board, thanks so much and welcome to Denver. My name is Philip B. Jones. I am a private shareholder of Disney. I just wanted to touch on a couple pieces that related to the first shareholder proposal around transparency. You quoted in your presentation around the four core values of the corporation, equality, inclusion, fairness, and optimism. As has been stated by a few previous speakers, I hope that the corporation will continue to take steps to actually move in those directions to live and breathe those values and not simply state them in a corporate either proxy statement or annual shareholders report.
One of the pieces where I think we can talk about in the video, what does it look like when we talk about equality and inclusion when there are elements of, for example, the Consumer Products division, the great successes that you highlighted. There was a faux pas during the year when there was a rollout of Princess Moana costumes showing someone's skin as a costume. I think it is important if we are going to talk about as a corporation inclusion and equality, that we revisit the values of the corporation. I think it is also important that we talk about the roles, the cultural appropriation that was referenced about rolling out the movie Coco to emphasize Mexican American and Mexican experiences when we know the current political reality of our nation.
I hope that you all spoke, Chairman Iger, just now about the importance of being in the room. Right now, we are all members of the Disney family and community in this room, and I think it is important that we have some of these tough conversations so that we can really acknowledge the work that we have to do and not give lip service. Because when you, as a very powerful individual, and all 11 board members don't speak truth to power, it allows other folks to step in and fill that vacuum with evil, ugly, angry, hateful language that threatens not only the folks that you've hired in the corporation but the tens of millions of families. Little girls that look up to the princesses, young boys that can learn positive male role models and not simply tokenize those images and terms.
Thanks for the consideration. I hope that some folks will look forward to the opportunity to vote on this, knowing that the Board is against that proposal. Thank you.
Thank you. If I could just make a couple of comments on some items that you raised. First of all, on the Moana costume, I think that's an example of our values at work. When we determined that that costume would be culturally insensitive, it was immediately pulled from the marketplace. That's an example of the kind of values that I'm talking about and how we apply them. It would have been a mistake to take that product forward when we discovered that. As soon as we discovered that, it was taken off the shelves of a variety of places that it was being sold. In terms of values and our value system and how we present them to the world, we have made a decision that the greatest impact that we can have in a company was when we infused those values in our storytelling.
When we put on a program like black-ish or a program like Elena of Avalor, or we have the rich diversity of a cast in Rogue One or Star Wars: The Force Awakens, or when we make a movie called Zootopia, which is about prejudice, that is when we can make the biggest difference in the world. That is when we can take these values, which we deem important societally, and actually change people's behavior, get people to be more accepting of the multiple differences in cultures and races and all other facets of our lives and our people. I hope as shareholders of the company that you appreciate that's where our values are most evident, and that's where we feel we can make the biggest difference on this planet.
In terms of my representation on the committee, I don't think that I need to go over this again, I can assure you that the values that we talk about will be articulated and represented in forums like that. It would be wrong if, as the Chairman and CEO of this company, on one hand, I talked about how important those values are, and then I didn't take the opportunity that I have been given to express the importance of those values and the need to continue to protect them to influential people, not just in the U.S., but around the world. I have an incredible opportunity as CEO of this company to have access to a significant number of government leaders around the world, I assure you that the values that I speak of are expressed whenever I get the chance. Thank you. Okay.
I also want to know, I take your comments to heart, I appreciate the fact that you've expressed them here today. I believe that that concludes the business portion of the meeting. If there are no further comments, it does conclude the consideration of all of these items that were presented. If anyone has not yet voted and you are holding a ballot, please raise your hand and we will collect them 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 that were handed out 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 with at least 90% of the votes cast voting for each director. For item 2, ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we have received proxies for approximately 98% of shares represented at the meeting voting to approve the appointment. For item 3, relating to executive compensation, we have received proxies for approximately 84% of shares at the meeting voting to approve the resolution. For item 4, relating to frequency of votes on executive compensation, we have received proxies for approximately 92% of shares at the meeting voting to approve holding an annual vote. For item 5, relating to lobbying disclosure, we have received proxies for approximately 32% of shares at the meeting voting to approve the proposal.
For item 6, relating to amendments to proxy access provisions, we have received proxies for approximately 27% of the shares at the meeting voting to approve 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 proposal to hold votes on executive compensation annually was approved, that neither of the shareholder proposals were approved. This concludes the business portion of the meeting, which is now officially adjourned. I'm now ready to take your questions. If you would like to ask a question, please proceed to one of the two mics and wait to be recognized. When you are recognized, we'd appreciate it if you stated your name, tell us where you're from, and then proceed to your question.
Again, I would ask that you limit your question to no more than two minutes in order to give other shareholders an opportunity to be heard, that you do not raise subjects or repeat topics that have previously been raised. I would also ask that speakers refrain from raising personal matters or grievances since it's really not fair to make everyone sit through matters of personal concern. We open to general Q&A. Thank you. Yes.
Hi, my name is Riley. I'm from Fort Collins, Colorado. I was wondering what your favorite princess was.
I try not to pick favorites, Riley. We had a great character named Riley in Pixar's "Inside Out." You know that, right? I don't have a favorite. I have two daughters and two granddaughters. I don't have a favorite princess. Thank you.
Hi, I'm Danielle Kenline. I'm from Fort Collins, so I decided to ask the more general question about the new Star Wars lands coming to Disney World and Disneyland.
What do you think your favorite ride is gonna be, and how can I ride it with you?
That's a much better question than some of the financial questions. There are two great attractions. We're building an entire land, but there are two great attractions there. We've really only described one in detail, and that's the ability to ride the Millennium Falcon. That's the one that I'm most excited about. I've only ridden it virtually in our Imagineering department in Glendale, California, and I think it's gonna be a lot of fun. We haven't announced when we're going to open, and we're building two of them, one in Florida and one in California. You can decide which one, and maybe we can figure out how we ride it together.
Thanks.
You look like you're big enough to ride that. Thanks. Number 2.
I'm Julie Tibbetts. I'm from Fort Collins, Colorado. First I have a comment. I have a special needs son. He's developmentally delayed. He's eight years old and is about a three-year-old's intellect. We took a risk and went to Disneyland for the first time with him this summer for his birthday, and I was terrified. He has a hard time being with crowds and overstimulated, and he has a hard time waiting. He has a hard time distinguishing what's the appropriate way to act. He was incredible because Disney was incredible. They made it possible for us to have a trip of a lifetime, and it was just unbelievable. I want to say thank you to Disney. I want to thank you to my friends who encouraged me to take him. He got told happy birthday by Mater and has not stopped talking about it.
My question is, what could I expect if I took another risk and went on a Disney cruise with him? He desperately wants to go on the Mickey boat.
Well, thank you. Some of the most heartwarming emails and mail that I've received over the years is from parents who have taken children with special needs to our parks, to our Broadway shows, and on our cruise ships. We've accommodated thousands of families on those ships who have special needs children, and we're proud of the efforts that we make. There are representatives at our cruise line who would gladly assist you in planning something special for your son, or you can communicate directly with my office, and I would make sure that you are well taken care of. This is a common request that we get, and it's one of the requests that we're really proud to step up and fulfill. Thank you.
I'm a very proud supporter just because of our experience.
Thank you very much. Makes me feel great. Sir.
Good morning.
You look familiar to me.
Yeah. My name is Dwight Morgan, and I have been a voice in this room for the last nine years, and I wanted to thank you for making sure that when I asked a question, I got an answer. It may have been a cast member. It may have been the result, like the Premier Pass. I think being a voice in a room is a very important thing. I want to thank you for being our voice in the room with the President.
Thank you. Nice to see you again, Mr. Morgan.
Hello.
Hi.
My name is Dr. Craig Swonkin. I've been a Disney shareholder for 40 years now. I'm very interested in the future of the company, specifically long-term future. I'm curious if you could speak a little bit about some of the obstacles that we're going to face as a world, but also Disney's going to face as a corporation. I'm thinking of three things in particular. You can speak on any of them. 2028, I believe the 100-year copyright law will run out if the current situation continues. I'm wondering what the company's thinking about doing at that point. Mickey Mouse would be in eminent domain. Secondly, I'm thinking about Disneyland Paris. I know the company is talking about trying to acquire all the stock that they can so that you'll be the only or the large majority, you're already the majority stockholder.
I know the company's had some financial problems. It's a beautiful park, but I think it needs probably huge investments to really make it be the park that it could be financially. My biggest concern is really climate change, both for the world and the corporation, especially when you look at how many Disney parks could be heavily impacted in the next 50 years. Tokyo, Hong Kong, of course, owned by Oriental Land Company, but still there's that in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Florida, I'm quite concerned about the future of Florida, and I'm sure you are too, as somebody who's interested in the environmental impact. This is where lobbying would be, I think, essential because, long-term, I think this could have a tremendous impact.
Just if the scientists are right and we hit certain expectations, it could really collapse the world economy and impact all of the parks and all of the Disney products. That's the one I'm most interested in, but I'm interested if you could speak a little bit about not five years hence, but 100 years, 50 years.
Thank you. That's a long way out, but I'll try. As you'd expect, a company like ours that does business all over the world in multiple businesses faces myriad challenges. Many that I couldn't even begin to name them all. We spend a fair amount of time every day as a management team and as a board contending with the challenges that we are aware of and even thinking about challenges that we may not be fully aware of, but they may crop up at some point down the road. It is one of the things that we take very seriously because we obviously want the success and the health of this company to outlive all of us. You raised three subjects, Paris, and copyright, and then climate change. I don't think we can go into detail on all of them. Paris, I'll be very brief on.
We did make an announcement that we are attempting to buy in what is left of the public ownership of that entity. It was a business structure that was set up when we opened. It had public shareholders and separate trading stock. We believe that the best path forward in terms of managing that business successfully and creatively, by the way, is for us to be the primary owners, or the sole owners, really, of that business because that will give us the ability to do or to make the kind of investments that we'd like to make in that to continue its success. I'm going to turn to Alan Braverman, our General Counsel, who's here, to make a brief comment about the 1928 or the expiration, rather, of the copyright specifically related to Mickey Mouse. While Alan is preparing his response, a quick thing on climate change.
This is not in any way meant to make a political statement at all. We actually don't believe climate change is political. We think that the changes that we're already seeing in the environment in the world today are real, and that in many respects, they're the direct result of man's impact on the world. We feel, as a company, that it is extremely important for us to behave as a good citizen of the world when it comes to the environment. We've taken a number of steps to the extent that we can make a difference in doing just that. I can't say that we have a picture in our mind of our theme parks floating away. It is sort of, I guess comforting that a Disney World in Orlando is in Central Florida and not on the coast.
You are right to point out that Hong Kong and Tokyo are right on the water, with property in Hawaii that's right on the water, and I don't know how far Disneyland is from the sea. I think that these issues are very real and things that we need to take very seriously. As a company, I think the best thing that we can do is set examples and behave, as I mentioned earlier, as a good global citizen of the world and make sure that we're doing everything we can to not contribute more to the problem. Alan Braverman, our General Counsel on copyright. Alan.
Hi. I think the heart of the concern that I think you're expressing is our ability in the future, if copyright expires, to continue to have a unique opportunity to exploit our intellectual property. I'd just remind you that your copyright is just one of the means of obtaining that protection. Copyright terms do have expiration, but another is trademark protection, which has no expiration date. We've been very aware of the, of course, the possibility of copyright expiration, not only in the U.S. but around the world. We monitor that very closely. We have in place a very robust program to enable us to continue to uniquely exploit our historic IP, even in markets where copyright expires through trademark protection and other means.
Thank you. Number one. Do I have someone at number one?
Mr. Chairman, my name is Richard Zavatsky II, and I'm from Auburndale, Florida. Been a stockholder in The Walt Disney Company since 1996 and a cast member for almost 13 years. I want to thank you for authorizing the investigation led by Mr. Boden into the matters that I brought before you at last year's meeting in Chicago. Mr. Chairman, I've mailed this follow-up document to you eight times via certified mail without response, and with your permission, I would ask that one of the ushers hand this to you, please.
That investigation revealed that for my last five and a half years as a cast member, I worked for, I earned, begged for, and should have been paid the Disney benefits of theme park admissions for me and my family, the employee discounts, the merchandise discounts, their educational reimbursement, and the reward and recognition programs that are unique to this company. It has been verified that Connie Smith prevented me from receiving these benefits, that she illegally withheld my pay, and that she prevented the company from recognizing my 10 years of service to this company. No pin, no recognition, no party, nothing from this great company of 10 years of service. When I filed a complaint with Employee Relations against Connie Smith, Connie Smith retaliated with three reprimands within seven months that led to my termination.
Two are still unexplained, and the final one has since been determined to be a complete and total fabrication of her imagination.
Sir, I asked at the beginning. First of all, I respect your position. You did speak at the meeting last year. I ask that people not bring their personal grievances or subjects that are personal just to them to this meeting because there are other people who would like to ask questions. Let me just say that when you raised this last year, I took it to heart and, in fact, got you a forum with our HR people in Florida, I believe. They fully reviewed your complaints and your situation and determined that the position the company had taken specifically about you was the right position for the company to take and determined after that that there would be no change going forward in that position. Again, I respect the fact that you're raising this again. I would be glad to accept the letter that you write.
I will make sure that I pass that along, and I will make sure that someone responds one more time. I thought we had treated you with great respect last year in giving you a forum again. Again, I've asked, since this is just your issue, I would like others to have opportunities to ask questions that are broader in nature.
Absolutely. If it wasn't for the fact that this has gone ignored for the past year, I wouldn't have bothered.
Well, again, we gave you a full forum afterwards, so your situation was not ignored at all. If I get correspondence from you, I assure you it's passed directly on to people who could have a much more direct knowledge of your situation and have the ability to either render judgment or communicate directly to you about it. Thank you.
Again, I want to say that I was most grateful and thankful for the way you progressed-
You're welcome.
The matter last year, but it still needs your input.
Okay, thank you. Number 2.
Morning, everyone. My name is Mehrdad Azemun. I'm here with People's Action. We're a national economic and racial justice organization here as a proxy through the Service Employees International Union. I listened carefully to your responses around President Trump's Council of Economic Advisors. We are still asking that you step down from that council because it does run counter to the company's values around equality, respect, and inclusion. I'm an immigrant. I was born in Iran. As an immigrant kid, I grew up in the U.S. being raised on Disney. They became part of my family's picture of this country and the values that everything taught from the classics through to the Pixar movies, sense of possibility and adventure, the importance of family and community, sharp lines between right and wrong. The question that I want to raise is really I heard your point around access.
The question is less about access. The question is about endorsement. As an Iranian American, I'm angry about Trump's Muslim ban. That ban and that policy is bigoted and racist at its core, and it directly affects my extended family. I'm obviously not the only one that feels this way. We're turning in a half million petition signatures from shareholders and from people who have pulled their business from your parks. The question is one of association. By staying on the economic council, it looks as if you are tacitly endorsing all Trump's policies that anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-woman agenda. That's the question. It is not about whether you will have access. You will continue to have access. The question is the perception that this company is endorsing President Trump's policies. The question again is, will you step down from the council?
Well, I answered the question that I do not currently intend to step down from the council, again, because I think that there's an opportunity for me to express views that I believe are views that would represent the issues that are of value to this company and its shareholders. That's my primary thrust. I really do not believe that joining such a thing and having the opportunity to express views that are likely to be adversarial to views that are being expressed or fostered by the administration directly to that administration is actually a good thing and not an endorsement at all of the policies of the new administration. I could touch on many policies. Again, I want to be careful. We all have personal politics. I obviously bring personal politics to this job.
Because I'm in this job and most of my engagement publicly is as the CEO of this company, I'm very careful that opinions that I express are opinions that are expressed because I believe they're subjects or policies that would benefit this company. Just one, for instance, immigration. I happen to believe that this company has benefited over the years in so many different ways, as has this country, to an open and a fair and a just immigration policy. We are who we are as a country because of great immigration. The creators of the stories that we tell are from all walks of life, from all over the world, as a for instance, a policy that is open to the world, I think, is something that is vital to the future success of The Walt Disney Company and to this country.
I don't happen to believe, by the way, that immigration policies that single people out because of religion, as a for instance, are fair and just. That's just my position and the position I take on behalf of this company. That's just one example. I'm sure there are many examples of things that will come up that I'm not going to agree with the administration on, and I intend to express them because I believe I'm there representing the best interests of this company. I think the values that I talk about, which are talked about specifically here, are more than enough evidence of what we believe in as a company. You don't make a movie about Zootopia, which is preaching tolerance and talking about how unjust prejudice is and how wrong prejudice is, unless you believe fundamentally in that ideal and that value. Thank you.
Yes.
It's clearly a.
Yes, you simply.
Sorry.
Hi. Good morning, Mr. Iger. I'm still Justin Danhof, still from the National Center for Public Policy Research. Mr. Iger, responding to a question that we asked you last year, you said that Disney's media outlets were essentially free from bias. Our skepticism about your news organization's unwillingness to be politically neutral, already shared by many millions of America, is now loudly joined by the topic of this meeting, apparently the President of the U.S. The President has labeled ABC, quote, "an enemy of the American people," and often uses the term fake news. WikiLeaks has provided plenty of evidence that you are not requiring your news organizations to be politically neutral. After ABC News' George Stephanopoulos interviewed Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer, WikiLeaks exposed communications appearing to show operatives for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign working with Stephanopoulos to delegitimize Schweizer and his work.
These have gone not refuted, that's not journalism. It's just not outsiders who have these concerns. An ESPN host claims the network is obsessed with bashing conservatives. One of the hosts, he recently said, I quote, "I feel like there's so many people I work with that every show, every topic, every angle on it is hoping to be right, destroying the political right on every single thing that comes up. I hear it every single day." Agreeing, his co-host asked, "Can you imagine if I teased this show and said, 'Coming up, why all of you are wrong about Trump and why he's awesome?'" To which the host replied, "We wouldn't make it through the commercial." Why is this the pervading culture at ESPN? It's a sports network.
Last year, Mr. Iger, you told us that bias in your operations is, quote, "very, very rare." The examples we presented to you just now argue instead that bias is pervasive and exists at the top levels. It's not rare at all. The election of President Trump shows the power of a frustrated base that is at best ignored by your elitist networks, and at worst ridiculed. That these masses have a voice, one that largely rejects your media narrative, you have a choice to make. You can continue to cater primarily to liberal coastal elites or make your company's media welcoming to all Americans. What's it going to be?
Thank you. I'm going to disagree with just about everything you said, I'm not going to address everything you said. First of all, the charge that ESPN is exhibiting significant political bias in its programming is just completely exaggerated. You're taking, I think, one small communication and you're blowing it up into something that sounds a lot larger than it is. Watch ESPN, you're not going to see political bias at ESPN as a for instance. As it relates to ABC News, ABC News has reported to me either directly or indirectly for almost 25 years. I'm an expert on ABC News, I can stand here today, look you in the face and say that I am proud of the efforts of ABC News, I respect ABC News, I believe they work very, very hard to present news in an extremely fair way.
There are always going to be people, yourself included, perhaps the President, who are going to believe that it is not being presented in a manner that is consistent with their own beliefs. That doesn't necessarily mean they are being unfair. I think what's happened here is that there's been indictment made about the press simply because some of the press do not necessarily toe the line with positions that are being taken by others. We're lucky, we're privileged as citizens of the United States to live in a society where the press can act in an adversarial role in a number of different ways, as a vital check and balance societally, whether it's the business, whether it's the society overall, whether it's the government.
The press's position is not necessarily to agree with everything that is being done, and when they do that, they're suddenly, I think, branded as biased. I don't agree with that, nor do I agree that they are an enemy of the people.
Well, they're adversarial now that there's a conservative in office. Most-
I actually-
of the last eight years, it was a joke.
No. If you were to ask many people in the Obama administration, they would cite numerous cases when ABC News was their adversary. I'm proud of the fact that news can be an adversary. Again, as citizens of the United States, just look at the Bill of Rights. Freedom of the press is very specifically spelled out. That is freedom to be adversaries, even to those that are in power. That's vital. Anyway, thank you. Number two.
Yeah, hi. I'm happy to share my birthday with the board and my fellow shareholder members.
Happy birthday.
Thank you. You keep hitting around it every year, but this year, it finally landed on the day. I got one comment. One, generally, we've been talking a lot about the environment. Hand dryers at the Disneyland Park in addition to the paper would be great. Just the option of being for those of us who don't like using paper. The other thing is I'd like to know other ways that we're going to be integrating the Marvel Universe into the parks. Just a comment, I love what Netflix has done with some of the Marvel characters they've handled.
Thank you.
Just a comment.
Yeah, we're proud of those shows that Netflix has made, and we're told they've done very well, and there'll be more made. I like your first comment. I'll check on that. I thought we were putting more paperless dryers in our restrooms around the world. I'll check on that one.
Yeah. We have them on the cruise ships.
Your middle question about Marvel, there's a lot of activity about Marvel. We just opened up an Iron Man attraction in Hong Kong that I haven't had a chance to ride yet, but I'm looking forward to that. There's a fair amount of development of Marvel in California. We're opening a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction, the California Adventure, this May. We're working on other development in California, and we have big plans for Marvel in other places in Asia. These are great stories, and they deserve to be told in our parks as attractions and shows.
Thank you.
Happy birthday. Okay. We have time for a few more.
Hi, my name is Corey. I'm a shareholder from Arizona. I want to first thank you for setting up the tour for us last year. I'm also very excited for "Cars 3." My question for you today is if you could have lunch with Mr. Walt Disney, what one thing would you ask him, what one thing would you tell him, and what one promise would you make to him?
Wow. Corey's been at our shareholder meetings before. The last shareholder meeting, she asked for a tour of Pixar, and I think I graciously gave you that. I'm glad. We can't do many of those, but I'm glad you did that. I would love the opportunity to have lunch with Walt Disney. I don't think I'm going to have that opportunity. I think about him often, but mostly when I think about him, I think about what ideals he established or how his ideals were manifest when he founded the company in 1923, all through his life, when he died through 1966. More than anything, I'd probably want a job assessment from him. I'd like to find out what he thinks of how I'm doing. Why not, right?
If you had an opportunity to ask Walt Disney something, it would be, "Am I doing a good enough job for the company that you founded?" That would be it.
Thank you.
I'd like to give him a tour of Pixar, too. By the way, we reserved his office. I know this is going to get me in trouble. We decided that we would bring Walt Disney's office back to the condition it was in, I'm told pretty accurately, on the day that he died in December of 1966, and we do offer some very special tours there. It's quite an experience. Number 2.
Matthew Rafat, shareholder from San Jose, California. One question and one comment. I noticed that the profit structure of the Tokyo Disney Resort is different from Shanghai and other international destinations, primarily because you don't have an equity stake in the management company. I'd like to know more about that background and why it's so different from other resorts. My second issue is that I came to a shareholder meeting in California, and I raised the issue of the unpaid student-athletes that ESPN makes so much money from. In response to this, a few years ago, you mentioned two things. You mentioned that the NCAA should take a greater role, and also, you mentioned that ESPN was involved in documentaries that shed light on this issue.
Well, I think if we're going to wait for a non-profit institution like the NCAA filled with lawyers to change anything, it's not going to get done anytime soon. I also, with respect to your documentary comment, it turns out that a documentary was made on this issue. It's called "Schooled: The Price of College Sports." It was made by Viacom, not by Disney. We now have a situation where Disney is in the process of tarnishing its reputation by behaving as a plantation owner. You're making a lot of money, millions of dollars from primarily African American men in exchange for food and shelter and a piece of paper at the end of their service.
In many cases, that piece of paper, as we've seen with investigations in the University of North Carolina, is worth not very much because of its self-study and other corrupt issues within the school. Disney will most likely argue that you don't have direct control over the colleges. In this case, because the colleges, which are also non-profits, they are the ones that receive substantial money from Disney and ESPN, you do have a seat at the table. You are able to effect change because of your financial interest in a way that almost no one else can. Your real estate in this case isn't a plantation, it's a media. You have done an amazing job with the justice system in the O.J. documentary, you're not doing a good enough job on this issue.
As a result, it is tarnishing your reputation in the same way that Nike and Gap had their reputations tarnished when their outside suppliers were accused of exploiting other people outside the country that they were also making money from. My last comment is, you also own Marvel, and one of your characters says in that, Spider-Man, he says, "With great power comes great responsibility." I think it is a shame that Disney and ESPN and its CEO appear to believe that they are exceptions to that motto in the case of the NCAA and the unpaid blood, sweat, and tears of student athletes.
Okay, thank you. Those are two very different questions. The first one about Tokyo Disneyland. Tokyo Disneyland was developed by the company in the late 1970s. It opened in the early 1980s at a time when the company did not feel it was right to invest its own capital in the ground in building that park in Tokyo. They turned to a company that is called the Oriental Land Company to put its capital up to build that park, and the structure that was created way back in the late 1970s exists today. Oriental Land Company is the owner of Tokyo Disneyland. We do not have an equity position.
They are great partners in that they are not only managing the park well with a fair amount of input from us, but they are also continuing to invest a lot of capital, not only to make it a great experience, but to grow it. We do take a royalty from the arrangement that we have with them, which delivers some significant profits to the company, but we do not foresee any change necessarily in that relationship. As it relates to the second question, that is a very complicated issue. I thought at the time that you raised it that we were working on something under the 30 for 30 brand about student athletes. Frankly, I do not know what the status of that is.
I know we have done some work on it and some reporting on it in a variety of different shows on ESPN, but I honestly cannot comment because I do not know whether we are working specifically on a documentary at this point. I do believe that, as you point out, we do pay billions of dollars in rights to a variety of different sports organizations, some professional sports, some college sports. It is not for us to determine when we pay those license fees for their events how that money that we are paying is being invested. It is their money.
I do like the quote from Spider-Man, but this is one where I happen to believe that putting a quid pro quo on our rights payments to these organizations, whether they're professional or whether they're college sports, in terms of how that money is going to be spent, is probably something that's fairly impractical. One could argue, by the way, that the money that we are paying to colleges and universities around the world for their sports is enabling them to create programs that generate a lot of money for their schools and pay for a lot of activity on college campuses across the country.
If you were to talk to the president of any large college university that has, for instance, a good football team, he would quickly tell you that the football team and the money that it reaps primarily from license fees that are paid not just by ESPN, but by television organizations, supports the entire athletic program at that university. In doing so, generates opportunity and scholarship and education for thousands and thousands of other students. I understand your point of view. I know that colleges and universities have been criticized heavily for exploiting student athletes, in effect, making money on their behalf. I happen to believe there are two very legitimate sides to this argument, and I do not believe that it's an argument that the company intends to insert itself into. Thank you. Okay, I'm going to take two more.
Hi, Mr. Iger. My name is Tyler Engel from Castle Rock, Colorado. I just had a quick question. I was curious as to what you thought were the greatest opportunities for the company going forward over the next 5 to 10 years.
I think that we are extremely well-positioned as a company in a world that is continuing to change in a marketplace that's extremely dynamic. When you can tell great stories, there's a universal appeal to them. In today's world, thanks mostly to digital technology, the ability to tell those stories to many more people in many more places for long periods of time has grown tremendously and is going to continue to grow. The thought that you can sit on with a device like this, for instance, and have a great experience watching a Disney movie or an ESPN program anywhere in the world, whether you're sitting on a bus on the way to school or whether you're on a plane or whether you're in a park or in another country or whatever, that's an unbelievably powerful tool for storytelling.
One of the reasons why, as a company, we've invested so much money in great storytelling under the Pixar and Disney and Marvel and Lucasfilm and ESPN brands is we believe the opportunity for telling stories is greater than it has ever been and is going to only get better. Thank you. One more question.
I'm Aspen Hossie, and I'm a shareholder from Colorado Springs, I have two questions. My first one is, have you ever considered turning the book "Kingdom Keepers" by Ridley Pearson into a movie? My second question is, have you ever put thought into having a kid as an honorary Disney boarder-
Board member?
Board member.
Okay, Aspen. The first question, I am not aware of any development of Kingdom Keepers for a movie. I know we were the publisher of that book, but I'm not sure that we even have the movie rights. To my knowledge, there's no activity. I will check on that for you, though. We have not considered adding a child to our board. I will refer that question to the chairman of our nominating and governance committee. It's a good question. Thank you. With that, I know that there are some other folks that have questions. If you do, and they're vital, please send them to our folks, and I'll make sure that we try our best to answer them. I want to thank you all for coming today. I appreciate the questions that were asked, myriad questions that were asked, and the subjects that were covered.
I thank you all for your continued support. I bid you all a good morning. Thank you very much.