Disney Top Legal Officer Took Home Nearly $12 Million Last Year

The Walt Disney Co.’s chief legal officer Horacio Gutierrez received nearly $11.7 million in total compensation from the media and entertainment conglomerate last year, per a proxy statement filed late Tuesday.

Gutierrez, hired by Disney in December 2021 after serving as the top lawyer for Spotify Technology SA, earned more than $4.3 million in cash—including roughly $1.3 million in base salary and $3 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation—as well as about $7.2 million in stock and options awards.

Disney disclosed last month that Gutierrez’s employment contract had been extended through 2026, during which time he’s set to earn $1.5 million in annual base salary. Gutierrez received a lucrative pay package from Disney to make the move from Spotify. His total compensation for fiscal 2022 was $15.2 million, making his most recent remuneration a 23% year-over-year decrease.

The disparity in pay, however, mostly stems from a $2 million signing bonus that Gutierrez received to join Disney two years ago, according to the Burbank, Calif.-based company’s proxy filing.

In its rationale for his compensation, Disney said it raised Gutierrez’s base salary “to reflect changes in the market for executive talent and his continued outstanding performance.”

Disney also commended Gutierrez for his role in helping the company handle various corporate governance and public policy issues, map out its strategy to protect its content from generative artificial intelligence services, and advise on important litigation, regulatory, and transactional matters.

Gutierrez took over from Disney’s longtime legal chief Alan Braverman, who retired in 2021. Disney gave Gutierrez the additional title of chief compliance officer last year after mass layoffs at the company led it to part ways with Alicia Schwarz, who was given the job three years ago.

Spotify hired Gutierrez in 2016 from Microsoft Corp., where he spent nearly 18 years, rising to the role of general counsel for the technology company.