Fox Corp., Disney End Temporary Pandemic Pay Cuts for Executives

At Fox, the parent company of Fox Entertainment, Fox News, Fox Business and Fox Sports, compensation reductions of 15% for execs at the vice president level and above came to an end on July 31. That move affected around 700 employees at the company.

“The sacrifice you have made over the past several months has allowed us to protect our full-time colleagues with salary and benefit continuation,” said Viet Dinh, Fox’s chief legal and policy officer, in an email to impacted employees.

In April, just weeks after the pandemic forced television and film production to shut down and most of Hollywood to work from home, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch informed staff that the company would pay for their health insurance premiums and waive co-pays. In the same email, he noted that he, Dinh, Rupert Murdoch, John Nallen and Steve Tomsic would forego their salaries through Sept. 30, which is still in effect.

Fox recently extended its coverage of health insurance premiums in Fox-sponsored plans through the end of 2020, per a source.

Meanwhile, Disney is also bringing its temporary pay cuts to an end. As of April 5, the company reduced salaries of vice president-level executives and above by 20%; senior VP pay was trimmed by 25%, and exec VP-level staff saw a 30% reduction.

CEO Bob Chapek had taken a 50% salary cut. Executive chairman Bob Iger is foregoing his salary for the year.

Deadline first reported news of the pay cut reversals.