Andrew C
You know what's funny?
A billboard for guardians?
I told my friends this yesterday..tear down the billboard but bring back the streetmosphere/shows, night parade and better fireworks.
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News Chapek FIRED, Iger New CEO
- Thread starter Chef Mickey
- Start date
I told my friends this yesterday..tear down the billboard but bring back the streetmosphere/shows, night parade and better fireworks.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
Hahaha. No ROI on any of that so it's not likely to happen.A billboard for guardians?
I told my friends this yesterday..tear down the billboard but bring back the streetmosphere/shows, night parade and better fireworks.
Elizabeth Swann
Premium Member
- In the Parks
- No
Guardians is a sunk cost now. Billboard is right but for STAR WARS GALACTIC STAR CRUISER with giant droid hand pointing at the concrete structure across the street.A billboard for guardians?
I told my friends this yesterday..tear down the billboard but bring back the streetmosphere/shows, night parade and better fireworks.
Here's the article if you get stuck with a paywall -
"Bob Iger thought he would spend his final year as Disney's CEO on a global goodbye tour, bidding a personal adieu to the dignitaries and employees who helped create Shanghai Disney and theme parks from Tokyo to Paris.
Instead, according to several Disney sources and others familiar with Iger's thinking, the executive spent 2020 and 2021 watching COVID-19 devastate the company he had led for 15 years — and regretting what he has called one of his worst business decisions: the selection of Bob Chapek as his successor.
The company was facing an unprecedented crisis and had two men with their hands on the wheel steering in different directions. One of them had to prevail.
In the press release announcing Chapek's appointment, the company said the new CEO would report to Iger, now Disney's executive chairman, and the board (chaired by Iger). Iger's intention was to mentor his successor, especially as the COVID crisis deepened.
But the transition didn't roll out as Iger had planned and he remains unhappy with how it was handled, said one person closely familiar with his thinking.
Disney, known for its superb marketing and textbook public relations and investor relations, began stumbling. Chapek and Iger had different ideas about how to handle COVID, how the company should be structured, and where Disney's politics should be. They even had different corporate advisory teams, sometimes working against each other.
Even after finally wrapping his Disney story in December, Iger has found ways to register his disagreement with Chapek's decisions and his concern about the company's performance. From an ugly contract dispute with "Black Widow" star Scarlett Johansson to a battle over Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" legislation to the handling of top exec Peter Rice's exit, Chapek has made several prominent missteps — and Iger has indicated, privately and in one case on Twitter, his disagreement with his successor's choices.
Last week both men were spotted at Allen & Co.'s Sun Valley mogul retreat. The two exchanged a cordial greeting but that was it, according to a person who was there.
Why Iger moved up the timeline of his exit
Iger's fateful February 2020 handoff of the CEO role, while expected for years (and postponed multiple times), came as a surprise — with its "effective immediately" wording — to Wall Street and Hollywood. Paul McCartney even phoned his friend Iger to see if he was OK or possibly facing an illness.
The day of the announcement, the company's share price fell by more than 2%. The mastermind of huge acquisitions such as Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Fox, Iger had boosted Disney's stock to stratospheric heights, and the company's market capitalization rose 400 percent during his tenure. He'd been expected — and was contracted — to stay on as CEO through 2021.
"It was Bob Iger's desire to move the timeline up — and if COVID hadn't happened, none of the stuff between [him and Bob Chapek] would have transpired," said one Disney executive, referring to the friction that developed between the two men ahead of Iger's final exit. "The board was surprised; it was several months before his departure date."
"He got tired of all the things you have to do," added the Disney exec, who recalled going to Iger with day-to-day business issues in those final years — only to be told that the boss didn't want to engage. "He really wanted to play around with creative and not worry about all the business crap."
The person familiar with Iger's thinking disputed this, saying the CEO was still engaged and simply felt that with Disney+ successfully launched in 2019, the company was in good shape for a handoff.
In April 2020, just two months after Chapek was elevated, Iger told the New York Times he was still hands on. "A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney, would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years!" he wrote in an email to Ben Smith, then the paper's media columnist.
Iger's public assertion of power came as "a slap in the face" to Chapek, an executive familiar with Chapek's thinking previously told Insider. Iger was also lobbying the board, according to the Disney executive, to enforce the chain of command and keep him involved in decision making.
Three days after Smith's Times column ran, the board gave Chapek a director's seat, with lead independent director Susan Arnold and Iger both singing his praises. (Arnold would later take Iger's place as board chair.)
Two former Disney executives told Insider they are piqued at their former leader for stepping down when he did. They are powerless to do anything but wring their hands as the stock price and their 401(k) plans languish. One close associate of Iger's told Insider it still pains him to see Chapek stripping Disney of all that he built.
Iger's succession planning was 'a notable failure'
It was soon after the November 2019 launch of Disney+, which notched 10 million subscribers on its first day, when Iger broached the idea with Disney's board of speeding up the succession plan, said the person familiar with his thinking.
Iger's relationship with the board had been less than rosy in the years before he stepped down. "The board was harassing Bob about his succession plan and his planning was a notable failure," said a former Disney executive.
While Iger had been an extraordinarily capable CEO, it seems his blind spot was identifying the best person to follow him.
Iger had lined up a series of potential successors, most prominently CFO Jay Rasulo to COO Tom Staggs, but both departed Disney by 2016. One person close to the company said former Disney CEO Michael Eisner had made life difficult during Iger's own ascension, and Iger felt any successor ought to be suitably battle tested.
Three months after Chapek was elevated, Disney lost another exec who'd been considered a CEO candidate: head of streaming Kevin Mayer, who — after a brief stint at TikTok — partnered with Staggs to set up Blackstone-backed production acquisition vehicle Candle Media.
In late-2019 conversations with the board, according to the person familiar with his thinking, Iger pointed to the succession plan at Nike, where Mark Parker relinquished the CEO role and became executive chairman as a new CEO stepped in. (Parker has been a member of the Disney board since 2016.)
Iger proposed that he continue to ensure there was a pipeline of content for the company's multiple distribution platforms while Chapek stepped up to manage the other parts of Disney's business, according to the person familiar with Iger's thinking.
The board wasn't thrilled with Iger's proposal and suggested that he consider making Chapek a chief operating officer instead, with Iger remaining as CEO until he was ready to fully relinquish his operational duties.
The board and Iger continued to toss around multiple candidates. But Iger pushed for Chapek as CEO, said the person familiar with his thinking. Chapek, after all, had been in charge of two major units — parks and consumer products — and there was a belief in his integrity, this person said, and that "he wouldn't screw it up."
Chapek wasn't viewed as a "visionary," this person added, but nor was Iger at the beginning of his tenure.
The former Disney exec said that in the years leading up to his exit, Iger felt that the board had not fully appreciated his leadership. "He said he was tired of being harangued about [succession] and said, 'Fine, you guys have someone else run the business.'"
That was Iger's mindset when he proposed Chapek, this person said, adding, "He greatly regretted it as soon as COVID hit."
Disney board chair Susan Arnold and other board members referred questions to the company's internal PR executive.
The transition of power from Iger to Chapek 'wasn't smooth'
Iger began to have regrets about his decision to step down, insiders said, as it became clearer with each passing week in early 2020 that COVID would bring a wrecking ball to the company. He also questioned Chapek's restructure that would break the content business into two halves: "creative engines," said the company's announcement, and a centralized distribution group.
"If he had known and understood the scope of the pandemic, he never would have stepped down when he did," said a second former Disney executive, who cited the CEO's leadership qualities and high EQ.
The Disney board backed Chapek rather than enforcing the original agreement that Iger would guide and mentor his successor.
"It wasn't smooth," said the person familiar with Iger's thinking. After a 47-year run at the company, Bob Iger felt his final Disney years were a disappointment.
And the board's decision to renew Chapek in June — even after a series of communications missteps and amid an ongoing political battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — appears to be an attempt to put the Iger years firmly in the rearview mirror.
While morale is described as terrible among many content-side executives, Wall Street is giving Chapek the benefit of the doubt for now, counting on a rebound at the company's parks, where margins are expanding thanks to big price hikes. After hitting an all-time high of over $200 in March 2021, Disney's share price has fallen 41% year-to-date.
Iger meanwhile has continued to voice his regrets. He has said he did not know that Chapek was such a "novice" when it came to handling complex issues like talent management and political battles, and that Chapek was arrogant and uninterested in other people's opinions, said the former Disney exec. Chapek defenders say he has made bold moves in restructuring Disney and led huge capital spending projects at the parks. A Disney spokesman declined comment.
"For many of us who are deeply loyal to him," Iger's choice of Chapek was "confusing," this person said. "No one expected it to fall apart this fast."
These days, Iger's been sailing and cycling, including long rides around Santa Ynez and a cruise in the Panama canal. He has set up in a Los Angeles office at former Goldman Sachs banker Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Capital Partners and is investing in start-ups with his former Disney chief of staff, Nancy Lee. Despite entreaties to join private equity firms, he prefers to go it alone.
"He's still figuring it out," said the former Disney exec. "He's got plenty of money, he's got great skills. I expect him to do great things. I don't think he has to be in a rush."
Iger is still rooting for Disney to win, whoever is in charge, said the person familiar with his thinking — and friends say he is still giving notes on movies and still checks the Emmy nominations and talks to executives at the company."
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Lot's to take issue with this article - does Zenia Mucha get a byline? - but this is the most egregious example.
A "blind spot?" Hardly. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, picking off any emerging, credible replacement.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
We’re lost if we’re debating a billboard when the Iger article is posted. That’s the meat on the bones, kids.
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Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
He’s a lying SOS…
His intent was to be lauded and still be there with lamprey lips attached to his keister.
He got scared when the Covid predictions started getting around the back channels…quit and tried to overplay his hand when things stabilized a little. He’s annoyed because chapek actually outfoxed him…in reality.
"And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, my boy was just like me... my boy was just like me..." Only balder and with no charisma or charm.
ETA: Boy, there are plenty of people who are out to make Iger look like a saint while painting $lappie as an incompetent buffoon. Well, the second part is right, at least.
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
Compared to Chapek Iger was a saint.
He didn’t build enough but he still left every park better than he started with, Chapek has made every park worse since he took over, I can overlook most of it due to the pandemic but the nickel and diming and eliminating everything he can is unforgivable.
Did he, though? The continued focus on headliners without a supporting cast leaves all the parks desperate for additional capacity. There's not been a net new add anywhere since God knows when. Everest? Soarin' was a replacement. Maybe the FLE and its 2 rides.
$lappie has been detrimental to the parks since 2015. That's a direct reflection on Iger, who appointed him and apparently supported all of his schemes and moves. Remember - Most, if not all, of the things $lappie is doing started to be developed pre-Covid.
Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
Up until that, it was a slow news day…
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Iger was more clever/polished…but the direction he took is clear. It wasn’t to build Disney into a “value” juggernaut…it was to push margins and attempt to make it not to be questioned as far as price strategy.
LSLS
Well-Known Member
Oh nonsense. Who added resort fees? Who combined product sales and the parks? Who added cabanas? There were entire threads dedicated to nickel and diming due to Shanghai. Nothing changed.
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Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Apart from "emotional intelligence" - what evidence is there, if any, that Disney would be run differently now if Iger were still in charge? Other than Iger likely being able to handle the Florida bill issue better, I just don't see any evidence the company would be run any differently.
A CEO that pushes margins to boost profits. Isn't that what he or she is hired to do? and if they do they will be rewarded in regards to their performance in theIr employment contract the board created.
mikejs78
Well-Known Member
Iger was no saint but he was competent, at least.
Except in his succession planning.