Fiction
Here’s how much Disney is paying its new CEO
CALIFORNIA: Disney has finally named its next ruler and slapped a glossy price tag on the throne.
Josh D’Amaro, heir to Bob Iger, steps into the chief executive role on a base salary of $2.5m, before the real money kicks in. His annual bonus target is set at a punchy 250 per cent of salary, with long-term stock awards worth $26.2m a year. Add a one-off incentive grant of $9.7m to mark the promotion and D’Amaro’s opening package lands at about $38m.
Dana Walden, the other front-runner, does not leave empty-handed. Elevated to president and chief creative officer under a contract running to March 2030, she will earn a $3.75m base salary, with a performance bonus targeted at 200 per cent. Annual stock awards are valued at $15.75m, topped by a one-time incentive of $5.26m. All told, her first-year take comes to roughly $24m.
The board’s decision ends a two-year succession drama that has hovered over Disney’s share price and morale. D’Amaro, previously in charge of parks and consumer products, gets the top job. Walden, until now co-chair of Disney Entertainment, is handed a newly minted creative super-role, reporting directly to him.
Both appointments take effect on March 18, at Disney’s annual meeting. Iger slides into the background as senior adviser and board member, before bowing out for good in December.
The message from Burbank is unmistakable. Continuity, creativity and a very expensive handover. In the House of Mouse, the magic still pays.
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
