Analysis: This guy made $150,000 a day, because Corporate America is out of control


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Journalists often joke that journalists go to the “dark side” when they start PR. After reading about Jeff Morrell, the hero I didn’t know I needed, I understood the temptation.

Here’s the deal: Last week’s regulatory filings from Disney, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, spotlighted Morrell’s incredibly short but highly lucrative tenure at the company. rice field.

As head of PR for Disney for three months last January through April, Morrell made about $150,000 a day, reports my colleague Chris Isidore.

This amount includes salary, bonuses, and $537,438 for moving his family from London to Los Angeles, plus an additional $500,000 to “explain his unique circumstances” that his family would move again upon his departure. It was

On top of that, Disney is buying out Morrell’s remaining contracts. He will receive an additional $4 million in the current fiscal year ending October 1 to pay off the remainder of his contract, along with the target bonus he would have received in 2022.

So, adding up the unvested performance bonuses and future payouts, Morrell would have $10.3 million for exactly one-quarter of the year’s work. And he’s already scored another gig as president of the global strategy and communications unit at Teneo, a CEO advisory firm.

Morrell did not respond to a request for comment on Disney’s paid package, and Disney declined to comment beyond details of the filing.

Why is your tenure short?

When Disney’s then-CEO, Bob Chapek, clumsily waded into a debate over a Florida law banning teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation until the third grade, Morrell said he was just getting started. was handed a pretty poor deal. ”

Simply put, Disney, the state’s largest private employer, tried to keep quiet about the bill. Čapek raised his voice. Afterwards, Republican leaders were outraged.

The company announced Morrell’s departure within days of his PR nightmare.

(To be fair, I don’t think Disney could have gotten out of that scandal unscathed just because Olivia Pope was on the payroll. But someone had to take responsibility for it. Ultimately, Chapek got the boots buffered by a $20 million severance package that barely removes the embarrassment of being replaced by his own predecessor, Bob Iger. am. )

Bottom line: Jeff Morrell’s story is that executive titles are meaningless and that all corporate America is just a tycoon who can learn to play moderate to moderate bad and get along like a bandit. This confirms my suspicion that

Citadel has become the most successful hedge fund after raising $16 billion last year. The Miami-based fund, founded and operated by Ken Griffin, topped his 2022 ranking of the world’s best performing hedge funds, as estimated by LCH Investments.

Citadel’s record-breaking performance last year brought the fund’s total profits since inception to nearly $66 billion. That took Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater off the top spot for the first time in seven years, taking his $58.4 billion profit.

Staring at the crystal ball of 2023, you’ll quickly get sick of the business and economic narratives that dominate the news. You see the words ‘recession’, ‘crypto’, ‘debt ceiling’, ‘M&M spokescandy scandal…’.

Still, as a journalist, I have a duty not to shy away from news of hard candy shells. You are sick and tired of the relentless media coverage of the culture war battle shaping social discourse in the M&M Spokescandy Saga, aka the Jubilee Year of 2023.

Here’s the thing: After all the (manufactured?) drama surrounding the desexualization of green M&M and the feministization of her purple counterpart, M&M is pausing the entire spokes candy campaign. Anyway, hey.

The company claims that when they announced the change to the character’s appearance, they didn’t think anyone would notice. said in a press release that smelled of.

Oh M&M marketing wizards, do you think no one will notice?

ICYMI: Last year, M&M’s unveiled a new look for its anthropomorphic candy characters.

Most of the updates were subtle, replacing the green go-go boots with more practical white sneakers. EJ Dixon wrote a provocatively titled Rowling article for his Stone magazine that, frankly, I wish I had written this one, but it didn’t escape the wrath of the internet.

“Give Green his boots,” cried a Washington Post op-ed. A petition to “keep his green M&Ms sexy” has gathered over 20,000 signatures. M&Ms didn’t give in, but said in a statement Monday that “even candy shoes can be polarizing.”

Then there was another change. A new character, Purple, has joined the lineup as part of a limited-edition package honoring International Women’s Day.

Apparently gender identity – and I can’t stress this enough – Fictitious Anthropomorphic representations of junk food are prey to Fox News’ awakened police.

Fox News anchor Martha McCallum said: “If this is what you need to validate and M&M, a color you think is associated with feminism, I’m worried about you. *check notes*... Bold China? “So I think China is going to say, ‘Oh good, stay focused on that.’ please continue.”

As such, M&M’s is taking an “indefinite suspension” from the spokes candy crew.

Comedian Maya Rudolph (10/10, no notes) stepped in to pretend to be a brand for the time being, saying, “M&M’s colorful cast of spokes candies move away to pursue other passions.” It allows us to embrace new paths,” an M&M spokesperson told CNN. on mail.

My colleague Danielle Wiener-Bronner elaborates on this disturbing tale.

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