As a former Disney person, I can say that level of bonus is quite possible. The way it works is via Long Term Incentive (LTI) plans. Typically they grant fairly large amounts of stock, but it vests over several years so you only get any if you stick around. That stock also rides the roller coaster of the market, so $120k in stock can become $60k if the stock halves, or $240k if it doubles. Since the LTI's are issued every year, to get $200k, that he lost, it would only need to be about $50k per year, that vests over 4 years each, assuming no movement in the stock price. That's not out of line with other large companies that work with technology. Basically, what he's complaining about is that all the "promised" stock evaporated when he got fired, even though that would have taken years for him to actually get the amount.