The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger was named one of Time’s most influential people of 2023 and sat down for an interview with the magazine. During the interview, Time asked Iger about Disney’s ongoing feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, sparked by Disney’s denouncement of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill last year.

Time asked Iger, “Did you checkmate Ron DeSantis?” referencing the recent reveal that the Reedy Creek Improvement District had, just before DeSantis’ board took over, passed a number of restrictive covenants which handed most of the District’s power to Disney for a period of at least thirty years.

“Disney World opened just over 50 years ago,” Iger said. “It was the vision and the dream of Walt Disney, probably the most ambitious thing he ever did—turning swampland in Central Florida into a business that employs over 75,000 people, that is visited by tens of millions of people every year, that is a major tourist destination in the United States, and for the state of Florida, that creates huge value for our company and its employees, and for the state of Florida itself. Our sole goal in Florida is to continue creating that value for all those constituencies. All we want is a relationship with the state that enables us to continue to do that. We have the wherewithal and we have the desire to continue to invest there to grow that business so that we can hire more people so that we can increase our attendance, and so that we can basically increase more value for the Walt Disney Company and for the state of Florida. It’s that simple.”

Time continued, “Usually, you’re very much a let’s-sit-down-and-get-past-our differences guy, and much less a let’s-go-to-the-mattresses guy. Is there no trying to meet with the governor?”

“I do not view this as a going-to-mattresses situation for us,” Iger said. “If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that. You know, I’m one that typically has respected our elected officials and the responsibility that they have, and there would be no reason why I wouldn’t do that.”

Earlier this month at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting, Iger accused Gov. DeSantis of punishing Disney for exercising their right to free speech. “We love the state of Florida,” he said, citing the company’s various investments in the community over the years and saying he respected and appreciated what the state has done for Disney in the past. “Any action that thwarts these efforts simply to retaliate is anti-business and anti-Florida.”

Reedy Creek’s final moves shocked DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board, who expressed disbelief at Disney’s actions and retained multiple law firms to fight the agreement in court. DeSantis ordered a criminal investigation into Disney and the old board.

DeSantis also promised to double down on his efforts to punish Disney through methods both in the Legislature and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board. Notably, he promised to hike Disney’s hotel taxes and institute tolls on the roads around Walt Disney World Resort property now administered by the CFTOB.

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