Disney offers jobs to most of bankrupt Character.AI's staff, at $60 million a year

Disney agreed to offer jobs to at least 60 Character.AI employees, with estimated annual pay of about $60 million, according to filings in the startup's Chapter 11 case [1][2]. The hiring sits alongside Disney's $20 million stalking-horse bid for a licence to Character.AI technology, which other buyers can still top [2].

What did Disney agree to on hiring?

Disney agreed to offer jobs to at least 60 Character.AI employees, plus up to six key staff including the CEO. The offers follow Disney's own salary, bonus and stock practices, according to a term sheet attached to the company's sale motion [2].

Disney estimates the offered employees' annual pay at about $60 million, plus a $30 million retention pool. That estimate is based on a preliminary review of about 65 offered employees, and Disney puts total pay and retention over the first three years at about $180 million [2].

Character Technologies says 66 of its 86 employees accepted Disney jobs before its 12 October 2026 bankruptcy filing. Of those, 56 had formally resigned, and the company's payroll now covers 18 remaining employees [3].

TechCrunch, citing a filing first reported by Bloomberg, wrote that the "vast majority" of employees offered Disney jobs accepted them [1].

How does Disney's $20 million bid work?

Disney is the stalking-horse bidder, the opening offer others must beat, and would pay $20 million in cash [2]. Of that, $7.5 million was paid before the filing under an exclusivity and prepayment agreement, including a $2 million refundable good-faith deposit [2].

The assets Disney wants are a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to some of the company's intellectual property and technology, plus any unreleased claims against the employees it hired [2]. Under the proposed schedule, bids are due on 20 November 2026, an auction would follow on 23 November and a sale hearing on 24 November, subject to the court [2].

Why did Character.AI file for bankruptcy?

Character Technologies filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on 12 October 2026, case number 26-11603, before Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon [5]. The AI Pin covered the filing and the $20 million bid on 15 October.

The sale motion says the company built a large and engaged user base, but high costs, potential litigation-related liabilities and regulatory engagement left it unable to generate enough cash [2]. TechCrunch notes a lawsuit by the mother of a 14-year-old who died by suicide and government investigations over child safety [1].

The filing says Disney hired the company's chief executive [2]. TechCrunch reports that former CEO Karandeep Anand recently became Disney's first CTO, and the first-day declaration is signed by Colin M. Adams as current CEO [1][4].

Our read

Opinion: Disney is set to spend about three times its $20 million licence bid every year on the people. This is an acquihire run through a bankruptcy court, and the auction is mostly for whatever Disney does not need.

What we could not verify

• We could not read Bloomberg's report; the "vast majority" wording and the CTO detail come from TechCrunch.
• The $60 million and $180 million figures are Disney's preliminary estimates in a term sheet filed with the court, not final pay data.
• We did not find a Disney announcement confirming Karandeep Anand's role.
• We did not check whether the court has approved the bidding procedures, so the November dates could still move.