News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[fgmnt]

this is so transparent i can see into the back panel of my computer screen

 

[Vinnie Mac]

this is so transparent i can see into the back panel of my computer screen

First and last bullet point is very, very interesting.

 

[fgmnt]

But stepping back from just the parks, to me, the work that Chapek was doing, was hollowing out the company and I expect that to stop with Iger back.

The reality is, this is chance for Iger to get a do-over on selecting his replacement.

Iger, Staggs, Rasulo, Pressler... all of these people oversaw the institutional rot that you ascribe to Chapek alone.

Whether the board and Bob the Elder have had the scales fall from their eyes now, while it is still not too late, remains to be seen over the next few months.

 

[GimpYancIent]

It appears B.I. will take the first step in revealing his intentions on monday.

 

[BobPar]

People can publicly cheer my firing if I get to ride off with millions of $$

Like the guy or not but he is laughing all the way to the bank right now. Granted people when they get to this point do not want to be fired the way he does but walking away with 50+mm along with everything he has made im sure he will be fine. Listen he was awful no defending things he did but lets face it we are bringing back the man who literally created this mess. There is literally NO denying that anyone who tries to is just fooling themselves. Now maybe some of Chapeks moves were desperation bc he needed to cut corners to save company money and knew Fla was the place to do it bc people would come who knows either way we are in not much better shape unless Iger does a 180 and learns from past mistakes…

 

[James Alucobond]

There's only one single thing I feel fairly confident would have been different with Iger at the helm. And that is the baseline intelligence to not publicly admit that you're swindling customers. Or making broad and factually incorrect statements about the age demographics who they're making animated content for. But that's pretty much it. Hell, I don't even believe Iger disagrees with Chapek's aforementioned comments, he just probably has the sense to know not to admit it out loud (or would word it in a less stupid way).

I believe that had Iger remained CEO (which he still effectively was until December 2021), there would have been virtually no difference in the way the parks have been managed, priced etc etc. The price hikes and cuts to the guest experience during Chapek's extremely short reign have been entirely consistent with Iger's business practices. I will be shocked if anything changes in that regard with Iger being put back in control again. If anything, I expect them to get even worse.

Which is a fair assessment. Things may have gone exactly as they did. I'm just pointing out why I imagine some people are perhaps more optimistic than the average poster here. Also, it's just generally more pleasant working for someone who has a modicum of emotional intelligence.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Here's a clip of Bob Chapek's reaction to the devastating news of his removal, the poor man, such unfathomable sadness-

 

[JohnD]

We're 111 pages in. This may have already been posted. But just in case:

Disney CEO Bob Iger to hold town hall with employees on Monday

Disney CEO Bob Iger to speak with Disney employees at town hall on Monday, a week after he was rehired.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Br0ckford]

Here's a clip of Bob Chapek's reaction to the devastating news of his removal, the poor man, such unfathomable sadness-

He's certainly not gonna be hurting, thats for sure. Who knows what his future plans are, or cares, but where do you go from here if you're him and still want to continue your career? A very public firing, mutiny, from the Walt Disney Co. Dumped on by every financial report. This isn't sorrow for the man, was just thinking about it.

 

[MrPromey]

Iger, Staggs, Rasulo, Pressler... all of these people oversaw the institutional rot that you ascribe to Chapek alone...

I think you're inferring a lot from my statement.

I never said every ill to ever befall the company (or the parks) came down to one man, did I?

I've been around long enough to see the damage caused by all of these people (although only one person on you list ever ran the company) and I've said ad nauseam in this very thread, I'm not a fan of Iger, but putting creative people back in control of their own departments - one of the first things Chapek took away and the very first thing Iger started rolling on day-one of his comeback tour - seems like a move in the right direction to me.

Are you saying you disagree?

 

[MrPromey]

Here's a clip of Bob Chapek's reaction to the devastating news of his removal, the poor man, such unfathomable sadness-

As if he would be so lucky to get Woody Harrelson to star in his bio pick!

 

[MrPromey]

He's certainly not gonna be hurting, thats for sure. Who knows what his future plans are, or cares, but where do you go from here if you're him and still want to continue your career? A very public firing, mutiny, from the Walt Disney Co. Dumped on by every financial report. This isn't sorrow for the man, was just thinking about it.

I'd love to retire with tens of millions of dollars at the age of 62.

Bob Chapek may be the biggest winner in all of this.

Some hair plugs, a facelift - insane Disney fans won't even recognize him in the airport and he can do whatever he wants!

 

[BobPar]

I'd love to retire with tens of millions of dollars at the age of 62.

Bob Chapek may be the biggest winner in all of this.

Some hair plugs, a facelift - insane Disney fans won't even recognize him in the airport and he can do whatever he wants!

I just want to know as part of his severance does he have to pay for Genie+ or not lol

 

[Br0ckford]

I just want to know as part of his severance does he have to pay for Genie+ or not lol

Free ILLs for life

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

He's certainly not gonna be hurting, thats for sure. Who knows what his future plans are, or cares, but where do you go from here if you're him and still want to continue your career? A very public firing, mutiny, from the Walt Disney Co. Dumped on by every financial report. This isn't sorrow for the man, was just thinking about it.

Even with his poor results being “CEO of Disney” will look good on his resume.

My guess is he sails off into retirement but if he wants to work I don’t think he’ll have a hard time finding an executive position, likely with some sort of retail company.

 

[fgmnt]

I think you're inferring a lot from my statement.

I never said every ill to ever befall the company (or the parks) came down to one man, did I?

I've been around long enough to see the damage caused by all of these people (although only one person on you list ever ran the company) and I've said ad nauseam in this very thread, I'm not a fan of Iger, but putting creative people back in control of their own departments - one of the first things Chapek took away and the very first thing Iger started rolling on day-one of his comeback tour - seems like a move in the right direction to me.

Are you saying you disagree?

Not remotely; I just think it is fair to include Iger when we talk about hollowing out the company; this is a thing he as responsible for as the man that replaced him/he replaced.

 

[BobPar]

Free ILLs for life

So he still has to wait on 20 min lines?

 

[RSoxNo1]

The thing about this example is, in this deal, he was actually doing work FOR Disneyland so it isn't like P&R was giving up something so the studios could benefit from it or anything but someone in some department that was going to have to pay for it, didn't see the benefit to them in saying yes.*

He was simply trying to horse trade with P&R to come to an agreement both could accept and they were like "nope!".


*To be fair though, in such close proximity to Hollywood, they probably get a lot of screwy asks that create logistic nightmares which I imagine inclines them to say no.

First off that was a cool story. Secondarily, I believe Paul Reubens has a similar deal. Maybe not with the plaid assistant, but I'm pretty sure he has a lifetime pass.

 

[Tha Realest]

In principle, I agree with everything you're saying.

But when divisions, departments and individuals have to constantly justify their budget and existence in any largish company, it creates its own weird internal economy.

There is a story about how Dave Foley was approached to do the voice work for Flik in California Adventure and was offered insultingly low pay for it so he tried to make them a deal that would cost the company very little while being of immense personal value to his kids but would have been considered an expense to P&R and they said no.

It wasn't until Lasiter heard the imitation voice actor in the park, questioned why it obviously wasn't Foley and then insisted they give him what he asked for to fix it.

In telling the story, Foley makes it sound simple and if you had no idea how much Disney normally charges for what he was asking for, it would seem simple but on their books, it clearly wasn't.

EDIT:

Found the two hour interview and the place in it where he tells the story if you're interested. Really, this is just an example to illustrate what it's like in a company of this size. In the conversation, Kevin Pollak seems to have a sense of how the company would view that ask while Dave doesn't:

Shonda Rhimes, who was essentially responsible for almost a decade and a half of hits at ABC, famously left after she felt under-appreciated when she had difficulty getting a pass for her sister. When the sister arrived at the park it didn’t work. Rhimes tracked down a high-ranking executive to resolve this, and he responded, “Don’t you have enough?” Mind you, at that point she was essentially show running their entire (and highly popular and lucrative) Thursday night lineup.

Also, this was under Bob “He’s great at managing Hollywood creatives” Iger’s reign.

 

[wutisgood]

I think it is somewhat clear from Chapek's need for control and decisions as CEO that he had a lot of authority to influence the parks as president of them. Maybe Iger gave him a lot of leeway thinking he was on the path to be his successor. I'm sure given these events he regrets that now.

It just seems insane to me that a place with such popularity and demand as Disney world has not had more consistent and true expansion. Everest was the most expensive coaster ever at 100 million at the time which would be about 160 million today. Why couldn't Disney be making multiple 200 million dollar rides every year, especially with lightning lane adding profit for new rides. Every ride allows them to increase the daily number of guests through the gates. Instead we get replacements, entertainment cuts, staffing cuts that increase lines, and crazy budgets for new rides. Something if fundamentally broken if the most popular resort in the world has more incentive to raise prices over building more things to sell to more people.