Disney Chairman to Get $500,000 Retainer

Walt Disney Co. Chairman George J. Mitchell will receive an annual retainer of $500,000 in deferred stock, the company disclosed in a filing Friday.

Mitchell’s pay is retroactive to March 3, when the board tapped the former presiding director to take over as chairman. Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner gave up the chairman’s post after 45% of the voting shares withheld their support for his reelection to the board at the annual meeting.

The change and other compensation measures are intended to bring Disney in line with its entertainment peers, the company said.

Mitchell’s compensation is appropriate “given the size of the company and the amount of time Sen. Mitchell is expected to spend on Disney business,” Disney spokesman John Spelich said. Mitchell is a former senator from Maine.

Said Graef Crystal, a San Diego-based pay expert, “To me, it’s not a remarkable sum at all. He’s got a very delicate job on his hands.”

Not everyone agreed. “It seems a little high,” said Brad Pacheco, spokesman for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, an outspoken critic of Disney and Eisner.

Disney also disclosed that nonemployee directors would see their annual pay increase from $45,000 to $65,000. Many companies are reviewing pay levels of directors to reflect greater demands on their time.