News Bob Iger Steps Down - Bob Chapek CEO

[BrianLo]

Now that I've reflected on it a bit, the nature of the transition makes sense. Chapek really has two years of being a shadow CEO, but in a much more definitive way than Iger had with Eisner or even the lack of faith in Staggs. There is quite a long transition period to boot.

The timing of the transition makes sense as well. 2019 was a huge year for the company logistically, a lot of that has settled. The plan is in place, round one has unfolded, really a CEO just needs to keep the ship steering in the same direction.

Iger still has a large role, but he can start shirking away some of his responsibilities and focus on cleaning up the lingering threads. Like Fox in particular and maybe Lucasfilm. Supposedly this is what his intentions are with the nebulous 'creativity' role.


BUT the suddenness is the struggle + the unfortunate association with the current media frenzy. The coronavirus aside, which has been sensationalized beyond belief, but it is hard to ignore this was probably not the correct week to drop this out of the blue.

 

[BrianLo]

Any chance this actually works out? What if Chapek in his new position as CEO is less involved with the parks and actually hires a real parks guy?

Maybe, but we need to see that Park exec role. At least - It should be taken as a win that Chapek is vacating the parks role operationally.

He is also 60, so this might not exactly be long term.

At least Chapek likes the parks (maybe doesn't understand what makes them tick). But liking the parks is a good place to at least foster someone below him that knows what to do with them.

 

[TP2000]

I still think it partially has to do with a certain former Hollywood mogul who used to work for/with Disney, was convicted yesterday and is expected to appear in a California court soon.

This may have been the straw that broke the camel's back on top of various economic concerns for the company.

That's a theory definitely worth keeping tabs on. Again, this whole thing is weird. Sprung out of nowhere, effective immediately, the creepy and unconvincing interview on CNBC today, Bob Chapek in the role of savior, etc.

And there's also the theory @Sharon&Susan were kind enough to copy for us from WDWPRo when he offered that this is in advance of Iger wanting to swoop in and save the day in Milwaukee this summer to save the Democrats from nominating a Socialist.

Something is up. This isn't normal, and this wasn't how it was supposed to go. It just doesn't smell right, but we might not know where the smell is coming from for sometime yet.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Thanks, former boss! I will not disappoint you!

He was right next to you at your CNBC interview saying he's still your boss.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I was in class.

Honestly, I don’t care about this news. I’ll always love Disneyland, but I’m at a point in my life where I value other activities and places. I’d prefer my money go elsewhere. The recent changes to the parks have been disappointing already, so I don’t see a significant difference.

Catch me in the U.K. this summer.

At Disneyland Paris?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Didn't Disney movies make 11 billion last year? Disney plus just launched but is out if new content and will lose subscribers. Good time to leave.

That's the box office ticket sales. It's split roughly in half with the theaters. So, Disney only got $5.5 Billion. But they spent about $3 Biliion to make those movies. So, net profit is down to about $2.5 Billion. And some of their movies, especially the Fox holdovers, lost money.

Disney only recently net profited the $4 Billion dollars of off the Marvel movies that they spent on the IP. (Of course, that's just the theatrical run numbers. Post-market, Marvel made a lot more than that in cable, TV, DVD, and merch.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I did see a little bit on twitter. And I don't know if he did cut the walk arounds or stage shows for Galaxy's Edge. And you know what? I don't care what you miserable toxic fandom have to say about Bob Chapek. I'm giving him a chance before passing judgement whether you guys like it or not. So there!

All right. I'll try.

You're Bob Cheapek aren't you?

 

[SuddenStorm]

For some reason I imagined Iger stepping away from the CEO position to have a bit more fanfare. Instead of celebrating his incredible track record as CEO and decades long career with ABC/Disney, everyone is now speculating about what bit of corporate drama caused this abrupt change in leadership.

Very interested to see what he tries to do in his 'creative' executive role.

I was feeling really good about Disneyland going into 2020, far better than I was in 2019- but with the Coronavirus and now this, the future of the Resort seems completely up in the air at the moment. The next few months should be very interesting.

 

[Sailor310]

We're looking for a "why" on the sudden announcement today. One of the defense lawyers in the Harvey Weinstein case said they were going to go after Disney for knowing about it and doing nothing.

 

[Lilofan]

Iger wants to focus on the creative side? Is he creative? Or is this similar to my grandpa taking up painting when he retired?

Good public relations in front of the camera. " I will spend more time....... "

 

[Lilofan]

That's a theory definitely worth keeping tabs on. Again, this whole thing is weird. Sprung out of nowhere, effective immediately, the creepy and unconvincing interview on CNBC today, Bob Chapek in the role of savior, etc.

And there's also the theory @Sharon&Susan were kind enough to copy for us from WDWPRo when he offered that this is in advance of Iger wanting to swoop in and save the day in Milwaukee this summer to save the Democrats from nominating a Socialist.

Something is up. This isn't normal, and this wasn't how it was supposed to go. It just doesn't smell right, but we might not know where the smell is coming from for sometime yet.

I smell whistleblower sometime in the future, and Iger getting out when he has the chance. All the "spending more time to be creative" BS that he wants the public to believe is just that. Iger and Chapek had no choice but to get in front of the cameras ASAP after CNBC broke open the story.

 

[Squishy]

When Chapek was making the cuts he was reporting to Bob Iger. My hope is that he, as CEO, can now make better judgements for the parks than what he used to have to do to impress the boss.

Chapek is still Bob Iger's b𝐢tch, atleast until Iger leaves the company.

 

[Disney Irish]

I smell whistleblower sometime in the future, and Iger getting out when he has the chance. All the "spending more time to be creative" BS that he wants the public to believe is just that. Iger and Chapek had no choice but to get in front of the cameras ASAP after CNBC broke open the story.

Except he’s not leaving until Dec 2021, he’s still at the company as Executive Chairman. So how exactly is he getting out when he is still there? Plus if it was related to some whistleblower situation he’s still on the hook for anything that happened during his tenure. So again how would him stepping down now prevent anything from sticking to him?

 

[Squishy]

Maybe Bob Chapek blackmailed him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[MisterPenguin]

We're looking for a "why" on the sudden announcement today. One of the defense lawyers in the Harvey Weinstein case said they were going to go after Disney for knowing about it and doing nothing.

Trial is over, doing so doesn't help Harvey. But, cool conspiracy, bro.

 

[MisterPenguin]

How does a CEO "step up" in order to mentor his replacement over a year ahead of retirement without the announcement being a surprise?

Should Iger have been dropping hints?

Are people who are used to getting fed insider leaks angry they didn't smugly know ahead of time what Disney was doing?

The conspiracy theories are nuts.

 

[Squishy]

How does a CEO "step up" in order to mentor his replacement over a year ahead retirement without the announcement being a surprise?

Should Iger have been dropping hints?

Are people who are used to getting fed insider leaks angry they didn't smugly know ahead of time what Disney was doing?

The conspiracy theories are nuts.

Well a few weeks ago on CNBC he was talking about how his CEO contract ends in 2021...

 

[Californian Elitist]

At Disneyland Paris?

Disneyland Paris is in France.

 

[shambolicdefending]

In my experience, a sudden retirement is almost always brought on by some type of personal issue. Usually it's health or family related. Iger enjoys the perks of being a world-renowned exec as much as anybody, but he's also a low-profile personality. It wouldn't shock me if we found out later that there was a private issue behind this.

There's really nobody EXCEPT Chapek that could step in right away. The directors would probably prefer to have someone with more of a media/tech background. But there's nobody with that profile far enough along in the pipeline, and no time to groom anybody who could potentially get there.

It's important to occassionally remind ourselves that TWDC ultimately rises and falls not on P&R (or "experiences"... whatever the heck they call it these days), but on the networks, the movie studios, and now Disney+. That's been the priority for at least 30 years, and probably won't change in any of our lifetimes.

 

[shambolicdefending]

Surprised no one has mentioned this post from @WDW Pro from the main thread in the WDW forum yet:

"Iger is looking at DNC and potential for a contested convention. In event of a contested convention Iger is interested in putting his name forward as he is vehemently opposed to Bernie Sanders. Iger also doesnt believe Bloomberg has a pathway to victory. In this scenario Iger could step in & become a moderate Democratic nominee without any of the mud that comes from primaries. Iger also believes Trump would have a difficult time hitting him hard as hes tied to Disney brand that Americans generally favor greatly. The chances of all this coming to fruition is low but moves that have occurred allow Iger to step in if the 2% scenario land. Simultaneous Iger clears himself of the stain of the company taking a hit if corona goes apocalyptic."

So... I'm taking this with a grain of salt, you should too, but that's what I'm hearing.

Wouldn't be surprised if there was some truth to this. But Iger's ego is getting the best of him if he thinks he would be a more successful candidate than Bloomberg.