$6.25M Bonus for Disney’s Eisner

The Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO Michael Eisner may be under fire, but he’s also $6.25 million richer.

Tuesday, former directors Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold issued a letter to shareholders urging them to vote against Eisner and three other Disney board members at the company’s annual meeting March 3.

Disney’s board Wednesday voted Eisner a $6.25 million restricted stock bonus to go with his $1 million salary.

In 2002, he received his $1 million salary and a $5 million restricted stock award.

Disney's annual proxy statement also disclosed that the company and Eisner are in discussions about a "possible administrative resolution" to a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry.

The previously disclosed inquiry is related to "disclosure deficiencies" regarding relationships between Disney and its board members.

Under the potential settlement, the company and Eisner would be cited for securities violations and would formally agree to a cease-and-desist order.