Part 5/9:
A recent lawsuit filed by a shareholder—Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund—accuses Disney and key executives, including former CEO Bob Chapek and CFO Christine McCarthy, of misleading statements regarding Disney+’s health. The suit claims that Disney executives knew about declining subscriber growth, cost overruns, and the manipulative practices used to hide financial realities but failed to disclose these issues to shareholders.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Disney:
Made false or misleading statements about Disney+’s subscriber growth and profitability.
Concealed the true costs incurred for content development by shifting expenses to other channels.
Made platform distribution decisions based on hiding the actual costs rather than consumer preferences.