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Disney whistleblower told SEC the company inflated revenue for years
A former Walt Disney Co. accountant says she has filed a series of whistleblower tips with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging the company has materially overstated revenue for years.
Sandra Kuba, formerly a senior financial analyst in Disney's revenue-operations department who worked for the company for 18 years, alleges that employees working in the parks-and-resorts business segment systematically overstated revenue by billions of dollars by exploiting weaknesses in the company's accounting software.
[...] A Disney spokesperson said the company had reviewed the whistleblower's claims and found that they were "utterly without merit."
Kuba's whistleblower filings, which have been reviewed by MarketWatch, outline several ways employees allegedly boosted revenue, including recording fictitious revenue for complimentary golf rounds or for free guest promotions. Another alleged action Kuba described in her SEC filing involved recording revenue for $500 gift cards at their face value even when guests paid a discounted rate of $395.
[...] Kuba's filing alleges that flaws in the accounting software made the manipulation difficult to trace, though the consequences could be significant. In just one financial year, 2008-09, Disney's annual revenue could have been overstated by as much as $6 billion, Kuba's whistleblower filing alleges. The parks-and-resorts business segment reported total revenue of $10.6 billion in 2009, according to its annual report filed with the SEC.
Also at Deadline and Bloomberg.
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(Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Friday August 23 2019, @03:56PM (3 children)
The difference in wealth growth between the bottom 80% and the top 20% after the last crash almost perfectly tracks the growth in the stock market over that time. The lower wealth group were more skittish and didn't put what money they did have back into the market. It hurts today but you shouldn't need that money for years anyway. Statements like this encourage that mistake.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Friday August 23 2019, @03:59PM (1 child)
The problem being that no one has any savings because housing prices eat, at bare minimum, a full half of income to the bottom 50% of workers. No savings in the bank vs no savings in the stock market are the same thing.
Now I've got a few stocks and a couple 401ks, and am not suffering that situation, but come on man, it's not cowardice. Don't be stupid.
(Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Friday August 23 2019, @10:13PM
I saved while in that low group, thousands a year every year. It isn't always fun but that doesn't make it impossible. I also didn't use the word cowardice for a reason. It is far too harsh. For that bottom group the 30% dip looks like the difference between a reasonable chance at retirement and a wasted effort saving in the first place. It is true that I can't speak with certainty about that many people all at once. The net worth graph by income starts diverging much faster after 2008 though. I also personally lost half of my less that average savings but now look like a rockstar on those net worth charts even before you account for my age. I personally talked to people who chickened out though and they'll never be able to catch up even though we have the same income.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 23 2019, @05:18PM
When you get into the bottom 80% wealth group, you start encountering a lot of negative disposable incomes. Blame consumerism or whatever you like, so many people in this group are in debt for their house, cars, and last week's trip to the movies - they might do the 401(k) thing at work if there's a decent company match, or they might not, because: no spare money.
Prior to 2008 I didn't have an IRA, after the crash I opened a Roth, sold my crashed stocks, and bought back 2 years' IRA limit worth of those stocks in the Roth. Sell at a loss - get the tax break, then buy in the Roth and take the bounce tax free. My cube-mate just sold his stocks - which I think a lot of people did do... of course, he also held on to his house in the Detroit suburbs... some people just never catch a break.
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