Florida Governor Ron DeSantis can’t seem to stop talking about Disney. After appointing a new Board of Supervisors to the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District), the governor and new Board have threatened legal action.

Before the DeSantis-appointed supervisors took over, Disney and the prior Board entered into an agreement that essentially puts the power back into the white-gloved hands of the Mouse. Disney CEO Bob Iger has responded to the moves, calling them “anti-business” and “anti-Florida,” and now, he’s sharing more.

It’s been quite the year for Bob Iger. He returned to Disney with a few priorities — to help bolster the company’s struggling streaming division, cut down on expenses, and choose his successor. He’s ended up having to lead the company through some rocky terrain most weren’t expecting — including a political battle with Florida’s governor.

During the 2023 annual shareholder meeting for the Walt Disney Company, Iger received several questions related to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and Disney’s decision to take political stances.

In response, Iger said, “We love the state of Florida.” He continued, “I think that’s reflected in not only how much we’ve invested over the last 50 years, but how much we’ve given back in the form of jobs, and community service, taxes…tourism of course, and all sorts of other responsible business practices.”

According to Iger, “The governor got very angry about the position Disney took and seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us, including the naming of a new board to oversee the property and the business, in effect to seek to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right…and that just seems really wrong to me.”

And now, Iger has been named one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2023. In the interview with Time, Iger was asked about DeSantis and “the situation in Florida.” More specifically, the interviewer asked Iger, “Did you checkmate Ron DeSantis?”

He responded by mentioning Walt Disney’s dream of 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.”

Iger shared that Disney’s “sole goal” in Florida is to continue creating value for each of these constituencies. He continued, “All we want is a relationship with the state that enables us to continue to do that.” This echoes Iger’s previous comments about investing in Florida’s economy.

During the shareholder meeting, Iger announced that Disney was planning on investing over 17 billion dollars into Disney World over the next ten years, which will create an estimated 13,000 new Disney jobs and “thousands of other indirect jobs.” He also indicated this would help attract more visitors and generate more taxes for the state.

“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.”

Iger was asked about the potential for meeting with DeSantis to work things out. He said that he didn’t view this as a “going-to-mattress” situation for Disney, and that 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.”

But, no such talks are in the works as far as we know. The new District’s board will be meeting on April 19th to discuss a proposed resolution, and we’ll be keeping an eye on that. Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for the latest Disney news.

See the DeSantis-Appointed Board’s Latest Moves Here

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The post Did Disney “Checkmate” Gov. DeSantis? See What CEO Bob Iger Says. first appeared on the disney food blog.