Roku Recruit is Disney’s Second Key Lawyer Exit in Three Months

Roku Inc. has hired Walt Disney Co. lawyer A. Louise Pentland to succeed its longtime legal chief Stephen Kay.

Pentland, who was chief counsel for Disney’s parks, experiences, and products arm, will start July 23 at Roku, the company said in a statement. Kay will officially retire in November. Roku, Pentland, and Kay declined to comment on the legal leadership transition.

Disney brought on Pentland less than a year ago to be the lead lawyer for its theme park business, a unit that includes Walt Disney World and Disneyland. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment about her departure.

Disney tends to take its time before back-filling high-level job vacancies, said a source familiar with the situation. The media giant has yet to replace deputy general counsel for litigation Jill Ratner, who left in April to become general counsel for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Pentland previously was chief business affairs and legal officer for PayPal Holdings Inc. She transitioned to an advisory role at the company in 2021, citing a desire for “renewal” in the wake of the pandemic.

During her time at PayPal, Pentland was one of the industry’s highest-paid legal executives. Kay, who joined Roku in 2013, currently owns company shares valued at nearly $6 million, according to Bloomberg data.

Disney recently extended the employment contract of its No. 1 lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, whom it hired two years ago to succeed retired legal chief Alan Braverman. Gutierrez, who joined Disney after six years at Spotify Technology SA, received a sizable pay package to make the move to the House of Mouse. Disney disclosed that Gutierrez earned almost $12 million in 2023, a sum that made him among the media industry’s most highly compensated lawyers.