News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[el_super]

It's unlikely Disney investors like Peltz or were enticed by him in this...awkward interview this morning but they may vote for him in March anyway just to spite Iger and the board.

True... but to be fair he's taking the easy route here in saying the things that investors were already thinking.

In the short term I think the following will likely happen:

Disney will have a bad Q1
Iger will announce cuts/layoffs mostly for streaming and DTC.
Peltz will not end up on the board, but they will reach some kind of "agreement"
Disney will announce some tentative succession plan

Peltz is really just enumerating the issues a lot of investors have with Disney and their bad sucession planning and overspending. They would have to address these issues whether Peltz was in the room or not.

On the parks side, probably not a lot will change barring an actual recession. Disney still seems committed to Iger's original "2019" plan, which would ultimately see a reduction in a lot of those "options" people seem to hate now. As prices rise and attendance drops, the need for things like Genie+ and Lightning Lanes goes down.

 

[el_super]

Convincing argument from CNBC's Alex Sherman (one of the more level-headed journalists there) that Peltz's arguments should focus less on Iger's track record (acquisitions, stock performance, revenue, etc.) and more on Iger's failure to groom a proper successor.

I'm guessing the holes in Peltz's battle plan are directly related to the CEO change in Nov.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Did not expect to come to to a WDW message board and see a Mike Lange reference, but here we are.

I turned on KBL in 1985-86 and saw this big, beautiful French Canadian beauty glide by…

 

[Slpy3270]

I'm guessing the holes in Peltz's battle plan are directly related to the CEO change in Nov.

That's what all the news reports have been saying for the last few months. Peltz hoped to follow Loeb in getting Chapek to make changes he desired (i.e. like what Warner and AMC Networks have been doing) and that blew up when Iger came back, leading to the fit he's throwing right now.

 

[_caleb]

You don't think Disney has any problems?

What? Of course I think Disney has problems!

I'm just tired of the over-simplified "blame it all on Iger" stuff that gets thrown around here all the time. Yes, a lot can (and should) be blamed on Iger. But it's not that simple, as @MisterPenguin pointed out in his recent post in this thread. I know people like to blame everything on a single mustache-twirling villain, but things are much more complicated than that.

And, as we now see with all this proxy fight stuff, Iger (in his current, post-retirement, legacy-oriented iteration) at least pretends to have a heart.

 

[GhostHost1000]

What? Of course I think Disney has problems!

I'm just tired of the over-simplified "blame it all on Iger" stuff that gets thrown around here all the time. Yes, a lot can (and should) be blamed on Iger. But it's not that simple, as @MisterPenguin pointed out in his recent post in this thread. I know people like to blame everything on a single mustache-twirling villain, but things are much more complicated than that.

And, as we now see with all this proxy fight stuff, Iger (in his current, post-retirement, legacy-oriented iteration) at least pretends to have a heart.

many of Iger's decisions got us where we are today and anything we want to blame on Chapek is fine, but Iger hand selected and trained him too

 

[Jrb1979]

What? Of course I think Disney has problems!

I'm just tired of the over-simplified "blame it all on Iger" stuff that gets thrown around here all the time. Yes, a lot can (and should) be blamed on Iger. But it's not that simple, as @MisterPenguin pointed out in his recent post in this thread. I know people like to blame everything on a single mustache-twirling villain, but things are much more complicated than that.

And, as we now see with all this proxy fight stuff, Iger (in his current, post-retirement, legacy-oriented iteration) at least pretends to have a heart.

Pretend is the key word. Lol. I don't fully blame Iger for everything. Josh D'Amaro takes some blame too.

My issue is that since Covid it feel like they have no idea how to run the parks anymore. They made it more complex to visit and don't seem interested in them anymore except for them to be the ATM.

I know I will get attacked for saying this cause "Disney is different then all other parks" but I feel that they need to get rid of D'Amaro. Go outside the company and get someone from Cedar Fair or a Herschend that understands the park industry. My last point is Burbank needs to stop looking at the parks as being for Carnies.

 

[Tha Realest]

Pretend is the key word. Lol. I don't fully blame Iger for everything. Josh D'Amaro takes some blame too.

My issue is that since Covid it feel like they have no idea how to run the parks anymore. They made it more complex to visit and don't seem interested in them anymore except for them to be the ATM.

I know I will get attacked for saying this cause "Disney is different then all other parks" but I feel that they need to get rid of D'Amaro. Go outside the company and get someone from Cedar Fair or a Herschend that understands the park industry. My last point is Burbank needs to stop looking at the parks as being for Carnies.

in the same way the Parks were overwhelmed and subsumed by “consumer products” types, the entire company is going to be swallowed whole, or sunk, by those with a streaming/tech fixation.

 

[el_super]

Go outside the company and get someone from Cedar Fair or a Herschend that understands the park industry.

No.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Dolly Parton to buy Disney Parks and build a monorail to/from Dollywood to/from TTC you heard it here first lol

 

[MisterPenguin]

Here is video from the CNBC interview with Peltz -

 

[MisterPenguin]

Sure... the problem of spending too much money. Fun to see so many on here pivot to being pro-cost cutting so quickly.

I say "SPEND!"... if your spreadsheet projections show that the streamers will hit profitability in the same target timeframe as originally projected.

 

[Rickcat96]

Dude reminded me of the local Deli owner in NY when I lived there.

 

[brb1006]

Go outside the company and get someone from Cedar Fair or a Herschend that understands the park industry.

No! Efteling would be a better option.

 

[Dranth]

I'm just tired of the over-simplified "blame it all on Iger" stuff that gets thrown around here all the time. Yes, a lot can (and should) be blamed on Iger. But it's not that simple, as @MisterPenguin pointed out in his recent post in this thread. I know people like to blame everything on a single mustache-twirling villain, but things are much more complicated than that.

Yep, Chapek was the CEO, not some helpless victim and we have examples where he made decisions that would not have happened under Iger. My favorite is when he decided to strip decision making any from the various department heads and instead give that to an accountant pawn.

many of Iger's decisions got us where we are today and anything we want to blame on Chapek is fine, but Iger hand selected and trained him too

Sure, but if we are going to follow that logic, how far back do we go? Do we blame Eisner because due to his later incompetence we ended up with Iger? Do we blame Ovitz because it led to Eisner and so on and so forth?

 

[GhostHost1000]

Sure, but if we are going to follow that logic, how far back do we go? Do we blame Eisner because due to his later incompetence we ended up with Iger? Do we blame Ovitz because it led to Eisner and so on and so forth?

Did they choose their replacement like Iger did?

Iger dug a hole, chose someone to throw under the bus and point the finger at, left, then comes back in to look like a saint when he “fixes” stuff. Or so he thought

 

[Dranth]

Fair, though I would argue that is a failure of the board more so than Iger. He can recommend, not approve. Also, in my experience, most CEOs are terrible at picking replacements because they generally drive off anyone they think could be a threat which is exactly the people you need when installing a new one.

 

[pdude81]

Fair, though I would argue that is a failure of the board more so than Iger. He can recommend, not approve. Also, in my experience, most CEOs are terrible at picking replacements because they generally drive off anyone they think could be a threat which is exactly the people you need when installing a new one.

Mr. Executive Chairman Bob Iger, who was on the board and over time packed said board with friendly faces.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I watched the interview. I don't think Peltz has what it takes to be effective on that board and with this company - and he doesn't understand that.

However, the deck does make the good point that the organization has the twin issues of gross inefficiency and nickel-and-diming.

Disney spends 4x as much as its competitors on an attraction (or an animated movie) yet fights with vendors over the cost of sauce packets, nor will they pay people properly. They won't spend the money to get quality, and instead have to resort to gouging customers everywhere to make up the margin.

Hire good people in the back office, and pay them properly, you wouldn't need 4x as many of them. It's not a long term way to run a company efficiently.

Now this is a good take…

The problem is Peltz can say…as I saw pointed out on Bloomie today: “none of you know anything about entertainment!”

And he is Pretty much right.

He can also accuse - with numbers - that Iger hasn’t made a wise decision in about 6 years…and make the case.

The problem is in 2015 it looked like Disney could make money anywhere it wanted…and it’s been a stooges nyuck nyuck show ever since. The case can be made

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Rather than selling off ESPN, there is a rumour of Disney/ESPN buying WWE, which is known to be up for sale. All 3 bigwigs met recently (at least at a football game.)