Disney CEO Bob Iger sold more than $42 million worth of company stock last week as the Mouse House gears up for a lengthy process to find his successor.
Iger, who is two years into his second stint as chief executive after the removal of his handpicked protege Bob Chapek, sold 372,412 shares of Disney on Friday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The shares were sold at an aggregate market value of $42,667,125.16.
Iger sold the shares, which were vested stock options that he was granted in 2014 and were set to expire in December.
In August, Disney submitted a 10-K filing with the SEC according to which Iger would adopt a trading plan that allowed him to exercise the vested stock options. The plan was scheduled to expire on Dec. 17.
The options that were granted in 2014 have an exercise price — or “strike price” — of $92.24 a share, which was the price that he could buy the shares.
Iger walks away with $8.3 million, which is the difference between the strike price and the share price at the time of the sale — excluding taxes.
Disney stock closed at $115.65 per share on Friday — or up 0.8% during the day’s trading session. Year to date, Disney stock is up more than 27%.
The company’s stock is up by more than 21% this month after it reported a fourth-quarter adjusted profit that beat Wall Street expectations.
Disney’s strong fourth quarter was bolstered by the performance of its streaming services as well as the box office success of “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Disney earned $460 million, or 25 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 28. A year earlier the Burbank, California-based company earned $264 million, or 14 cents per share.
Removing certain items, earnings were $1.14 per share. This topped the $1.09 per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were looking for.
Shares jumped more than 9% before the market open on Thursday.
Revenue climbed 6% to $22.57 billion, but fell a bit short of Wall Street’s estimate of $22.59 billion.
Operating income for the entertainment segment, which includes its movie studio and parts of its television wing, more than quadrupled to $1.07 billion.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Disney was expanding its search for Iger’s successor beyond the company’s corporate suite.
Disney was reportedly considering several internal candidate who could possibly be elevated to fill Iger’s shoes, though it also enlisted the services of a search firm to compile a list of external contenders for the job.
The board of directors has been evaluating four internal candidates to succeed Iger: Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Parks & Experiences chief Josh D’Amaro.
One possible successor from the outside is Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson, a name that has been consistently floated in recent years.
Disney has said it is aiming to name a successor by early 2026. James Gorman, the former Morgan Stanley CEO, was named chairman of the board last month.
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