Last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger fired a warning shot at Ron DeSantis as the Florida governor continues to retaliate against the entertainment giant for opposing his “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The House of Mouse is already suing DeSantis and has repeatedly thwarted his attempts to take control of the special district where Disney World resides, but now Disney is already making good on Iger’s threats.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Iger asked DeSantis during an earnings call. According to the CEO, Disney was prepared to invest $17 billion into Florida over the next 10 years. However, with DeSantis aggressively attacking the company, Disney is prepared to take its business elsewhere, and it’s not kidding around.
Via The New York Times:
On Thursday, Mr. Iger and Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chairman, showed that they were not bluffing, pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion office complex that was scheduled for construction in Orlando. It would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region, with $120,000 as the average salary, according to an estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
Not only has Disney scuttled the billion dollar complex and told thousands of employees that they no longer have to move, but the company is actively working to bring back roughly 200 employees who already moved to Florida, according to an email from D’Amaro.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom couldn’t resist an opportunity to rub Disney’s move in DeSantis’ face.
“Turns out, bigoted policies have consequences,” Newsom tweeted. “That’s 2,000+ jobs that will be welcomed back with open arms to the Golden State. Thank you for doing the right thing, @Disney.”
Turns out, bigoted policies have consequences.
That's 2,000+ jobs that will be welcomed back with open arms to the Golden State.
Thank you for doing the right thing, @Disney. https://t.co/1wrN2Zmi9O
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 18, 2023
(Via The New York Times)