Iger asks: Does DeSantis want Disney to invest more in Florida? – By Julie Tremaine (SFGate) / May 12, 2023
Disney’s theme parks are in extreme demand, according to the Walt Disney Company’s Q2 earnings call on May 10, which reported a 20% increase in profits in its parks, experiences and products division to $2.2 billion.
But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ increasingly hostile actions toward the company have Disney’s CEO questioning whether it should continue investing in Walt Disney World and its other entertainment in the state. On May 5, DeSantis signed a bill giving the board of his Central Florida Tourism Oversight District the power to void previously agreed-upon development deals the Walt Disney Company had already secured.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Iger said in the earnings call, pointing out that plans to invest $17 billion in its Florida holdings and create 13,000 more jobs are in question because of DeSantis’s actions. That investment, he added, “is what the state should want us to do.”
