Disney CEO Bob Iger struck a new tone in his company’s war with Ron DeSantis, warning that his company’s plans for $17 billion in investment and 13,000 new jobs at Disney World are jeopardized by the Florida governor’s attacks .
It is the latest shot in the escalating war between the $185 billion dollar amusement park company and Florida’s Republican governor, who is expected to announce a presidential campaign in the coming months.
Iger, during a phone call with company shareholders on Wednesday, did not name DeSantis or say outright that Disney is reconsidering the investment.
But his warnings were clear in his tone and his words.
Disney CEO Bob Iger warned the company could rethink its plans for $17 billion in investment and 13,000 new jobs at Disney World — Iger can be seen above with actress Halle Bailey at this week’s premiere of ‘The Little Mermaid’
Iger said Florida is acting unfairly and asked shareholders, “Does the state want us to invest more, hire more people, and pay more taxes or not?”
He said he is “accurately evaluating where it makes sense to focus future investments” in Disney’s theme parks.
“We certainly never expected to be able to defend our business interests in federal court given our 50-year relationship with the state,” Iger said.
DeSantis has yet to immediately respond to Iger’s threats, but in the past has shown no hesitation in taking on the company, saying, “Disney has no right to corporate welfare.”
Neither Iger, the 72-year-old CEO of Disney, nor DeSantis, the 44-year-old Republican governor with presidential ambitions, show signs of backing down from their war.
Each side has instead tried to beat each other. Disney sued Florida and the state filed a countersuit. Both have issued threats, including DeSantis’s, including raising hotel taxes and tolls and building a prison on state-owned land near the Disney theme park.
The governor’s fight against Disney has raised his national profile ahead of speculation that he will announce a presidential bid this spring. He has also made it part of his war on wake as he makes the culture wars a centerpiece of his strategy.
But Iger launched his own counter-offensive on his call with his investors on Wednesday.
He pointed out that Florida maintains special districts, such as the old Reedy Creek that housed Disney before DeSantis removed it, to encourage investment.
“There are 2,000 special districts in Florida to encourage business and investment,” he said, pointing to a district serviced by Daytona International Speedway. “It’s easy to say Reedy Creek benefits us, but it’s misleading not to say how it benefited the state of Florida.”
He pointed out that the other special districts were not targeted like Reedy Creek.
Ron DeSantis is expected to announce a candidacy for president in the coming months
The clash between DeSantis and Disney began when the company spoke out against the governor’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law — a state law that prohibits classroom discussions of sexual orientation and sex identity.
As part of that war, DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida legislature ended the self-governing privileges Disney World had held since 1967.
To remove Disney’s self-governing power, DeSantis appointed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board to replace the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District and oversaw the development of Disney World.
Disney’s CEO repeated his argument that his company faced retaliation in return for speaking out.
“There was no concrete attempt to dismantle Reedy Creek until we acted on legislation,” Iger said Wednesday. “This is clearly a matter of retaliation.”
“If the goal is to level the playing field,” Iger said, “then uniform application of the law or government oversight of special districts should be made or applied to all special districts.”
Before DeSantis’s allies took over Disney World’s board district, the old board — controlled by Disney supporters — reached an agreement with the company in February to ban a long list of companies from ever operating near the property.
Those included tattoo parlors, liquor stores, adult entertainment, oil refineries, and caravan parks.
But there were no prisons.
The agreement, which also gave Disney control over the design and construction of the theme park resort, is at the center of the dueling lawsuits.
It is also the target of a new law passed last week by Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature that seeks to overturn the deal.
Disney earned a whopping $7.4 billion from its parks for the most recent quarter of fiscal year 2022
Disney is suing Florida; Florida is suing Disney as their war continues
Disney earned a whopping $7.4 billion from its parks for the most recent quarter of fiscal 2022 — up 70 percent from a year earlier, as it recovered from COVID shutdowns.
The theme park is now charging for some of its previously free features, including the Genie+ app ($15) and parking ($30). Even the price of his iconic Mickey Mouse ears has increased by more than a third since 2021, from $29.99 to $39.99.
The company was drawing an average of 18 million visitors a year to Disney World before the pandemic — a room at the park’s low-cost hotel, Pop Century, costs about $168 today — more than $70 from 2013, when a room at the resort would cost $95. That is an increase of more than 77 percent.
Ticket prices at the park – now over $100 – have increased at about double the rate of inflation in the 2010s.
Disney World in Florida is located in what is called a special tax district known as Reedy Creek. The set-up allowed the company to govern itself as a de facto province – control over fire protection, policing, road maintenance and development planning.
Because of the deals Disney made with the old board, the new DeSantis board can’t do much more than maintain the roads and control basic infrastructure.
Disney World is the largest employer in central Florida, with nearly 75,000 employees and 36.2 million visitors by 2021, according to the Themed Entertainment Association.
Wednesday’s earnings call wasn’t the first time Iger has used the platform to attack the governor.
During an April 3 phone call, he berated DeSantis for getting “very angry” about the company’s position and labeled his actions “anti-Florida.”
In its lawsuit, Disney used similar language.
“Governor DeSantis and his allies appear to have no intention of moderating their retaliatory campaign any time soon,” Disney noted in his additions to the lawsuit filed in a U.S. district court in Tallahassee.