Disney, that’s how much its new legal chief earns

Nearly $15.2 million: that’s how much the new legal chief of the Walt Disney Co. Horacio Gutierrez (pictured) earned in 2022, according to a proxy statement filed last January, 17th. According to the same proxy, Gutierrez also received about $6.7 million in cash, a sum comprised of $870,000 in annual base salary, a $2 million sign-on bonus, and almost $3.8 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation.

Gutierrez, former general counsel at Microsoft Corp and then top in-house legal at Spotify, joined Disney in December 2021 to replace Alan Braverman, the company’s longtime legal chief who retired at that time. Disney revealed last year that Gutierrez has been given a pay package valued at roughly $22 million in salary, bonus, and equity awards to leave Spotify.

In his role, Gutierrez serves as the chief legal officer of the company, overseeing its team of attorneys responsible for all aspects of Disney’s legal affairs around the world, and acting as a strategic advisor to executive leadership and the Board of Directors. His areas of accountability include litigation, compliance, transactional law, securities law, regulatory matters, privacy protection, global ethics, and patent, copyright, and trademark issues, among others. He currently owns vested Disney stock valued at $316,000, according to Bloomberg data.

Bloomberg also aknowledges: “Following Gutierrez’s ascension as leader of Disney’s legal group, the company appointed associate general counsel for securities and corporate governance Jolene Negre to be its corporate secretary in July 2022. The role made Negre, a former partner at Jenner & Block, a member of the company’s executive leadership team, which also includes chief compliance officer Alicia Schwarz“.