Patriotic Millionaire Abigail Disney to Testify Before Congress On CEO-Worker Pay Ratios

Tuesday, May 14
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Contact: Sam Quigley
sam@patrioticmillionaires.org
202-446-0489

 

Patriotic Millionaire Abigail Disney to Testify Before Congress On CEO-Worker Pay Ratios

“Jesus Christ himself isn’t worth 500 times his median worker’s pay.”

 

Washington, DC – Tomorrow morning, filmmaker, philanthropist, and Patriotic Millionaire Abigail Disney will testify before the House Financial Services Committee about out-of-control CEO to worker pay ratios in corporate America.
Her testimony in the hearing entitled “Promoting Economic Growth: A Review of Proposals to Strengthen the Rights and Protections for Workers,” comes on the heels of weeks of coverage for her criticism of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s “insane” $65 million compensation package, a number that puts his compensation at 1,424 times that of the median Disney employee. From a viral tweet thread to an op-ed in the Washington Post to coverage in dozens of major media outlets, Abigail has struck a nerve with people frustrated by skyrocketing executive compensation, and for good reason.
WHAT: Abigail Disney, Patriotic Millionaire, granddaughter of Roy Disney and grand-niece of Walt Disney, testifying before Congress on CEO-Worker pay
WHEN: 10 AM EST, Wednesday, May 15
WHERE: 2128 Rayburn House Office Building. CLICK HERE to view the hearing livestream.
The Patriotic Millionaires are proud to support Ms. Disney’s mission to highlight this important issue to lawmakers. Ahead of tomorrow’s hearing, members of the Patriotic Millionaires released the following statements:

TJ Zlotnitsky, Patriotic Millionaire and President and CEO of iControl Data, said, “A prosperous America cannot be measured by GDP figures or Dow Jones trends alone. We must insist that American workers — and the American families and communities those workers represent — see their fair share of economic growth and gains in productivity.

At my software company, I as CEO earn about 3x what my average employee earns. There is no justification in my view for CEO/worker pay gaps of 100x, 200x, let alone more. That’s not the democratic capitalism that’s made America the shining city on the hill. Instead, it is a vulgar and extreme capitalism that depends on the kind of bait and switch, distract, deceive and outrage politics we see all around us. We must come together to restore decency and common sense to our capitalism, which starts with fair wages for American workers.”

 

Morris Pearl, former Managing Director at Blackrock, Inc. and Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, said, “Our nation has always had people who created great businesses becoming very rich. People like Sam Walton, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg became some of the richest billionaires in the world because they were the founders of hugely successful companies. But now, a few people, hired by the owners of the businesses to run them, have essentially taken control of the businesses, taken control of the boards of directors and are paying themselves exorbitant amounts of money.

Is a great leader worth as much as fifty smart workers?  Yes. One hundred? Maybe. One thousand hard working people? No. When people who might be a little better than the second best guys are paid a thousand times more than the average worker, we soon end up with a small rich aristocracy controlling our nation’s commercial, and civic institutions.  That will not end well for either the people at the top, or the rest of the people.”

For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.

 

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About the Patriotic Millionaires

Proud “traitors to their class,” members of the Patriotic Millionaires are high-net worth Americans, business leaders, and investors who are united in their concern about the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in America. The mission of The Patriotic Millionaires organization is to build a more stable, prosperous, and inclusive nation by promoting public policies based on the “first principles” of equal political representation, a guaranteed living wage for all working citizens, and a fair tax system. You can find out more at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/about/

The Patriotic Millionaires have appeared on hundreds of media outlets here and abroad, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and many others. You can find more coverage at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/media

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