Thousands of employees at woke Walt Disney World are about to get some really bad news from CEO Bob Iger on the heels of Florida’s ending of Orlando-based Disney World’s special tax status.
According to Variety, Iger noted recently during a company earnings call for the final quarter of fiscal year 2022 that Disney will be cutting 7,000 employees from its workforce after a year of losing billions in lost revenue and declining stock value following the release of ‘woke’ left-wing content. That amounts to around 3.2 percent of a global workforce of 220,000.
Iger said the goal is to shed some $5 billion in costs, of which half will be trimming “non-content costs,” according to the report. Also, Disney wants to cut back on sports by about $3 billion.
“I have enormous respect and appreciation for the dedication of our employees worldwide,” he said. “While this is necessary to address the challenges we face today, I do not make this decision lightly.”
Variety went on to report that Iger discussed a new company structure for Disney, which will be: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Parks.
His announcement comes on the heels of new legislation passed by Florida Republicans earlier in the week giving Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) the authority to appoint all five of Disney’s tax district leaders, while officially renaming it as well. The bill changes the name from the Reedy Creek Improvement District to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and delivers on the GOP governor’s pledge last year to take it over after then-CEO Bob Chapek vowed to overturn a parental rights measure that forbids teaching K-3 students LGBTQ ideology and curriculum.
The special tax district established in 1967 allowed Disney to self-govern, but DeSantis said the company had turned it into “an unaccountable Corporate Kingdom.”
“Florida is dissolving the Corporate Kingdom and beginning a new era of accountability and transparency,” DeSantis’ office said. “These actions ensure a state-controlled district accountable to the people instead of a corporate-controlled kingdom.”
His office noted that the legislation (per the Daily Wire):
- Permanently eliminates Disney’s self-governing status.
- Imposes a state-controlled, term-limited board — with members appointed by the governor — on Disney and its property.
- Allows the state to impose taxes on Disney for possible road projects outside of the District’s boundaries.
- Ensures that Disney pays the $700+ million in unsecured debt — not Florida taxpayers.
- Provides no control of the district to the leftist local government in Orange County, which threatened to leverage the situation to raise local taxes.
- Imposes Florida law so that Disney is no longer given preferential treatment.
- Prevents Disney from gaining more land by eminent domain.
- Creates an avenue to compel Disney to contribute to local infrastructure.
Jeff Vahle, who is president of Walt Disney World Resort, noted in a statement that the company was keeping a close eye on the legislation.
“We are monitoring the progression of the draft legislation, which is complex given the long history of the Reedy Creek Improvement District,” he said. “Disney works under a number of different models and jurisdictions around the world, and regardless of the outcome, we remain committed to providing the highest quality experience for the millions of guests who visit each year.”
