News Chapek FIRED, Iger New CEO

MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
The issue is that he's almost 72. He's not going to be the CEO at 80, even if he still wanted to be.
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If he's performing up to par with board/shareholder expectations and still wanted to do the job, I don't see what would prevent this. There are plenty of really old CEO's out there. Roy Disney was CEO until his death at 78, and would have continued on had he not died. Warren Buffett and Rupert Murdock are both in their 90s.
 
CastAStone

CastAStone

5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.
Premium Member
EPCOT-O.G. said:
I do think it’s hilarious that the man who groomed and appointed Chapek was rushed back to groom and help pick the next CEO.
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It is funny because the one thing that Bob Iger repeatedly proved to be incompetent at was replacing Bob Iger.

That said, choosing his replacement isn’t his job, it’s the Chairwoman’s job. Him coming in gives her the cover to do it without having to be a ninja about it. It also helps make it clear to potential candidates that the job really is open - Iger is leaving.
 
CaptinEO

CaptinEO

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
This whole thing is a giant mess. I can't think of any other situation like it in recent American business. Can you?

The Board of Directors deserves a big chunk of blame here. They're looking more and more like the Soviet Politburo rubber stamping things in the dead of night in the waning days before the Soviet collapse.

But then, GM CEO Mary Barra is on the Disney Board, and look at what a dysfunctional mess General Motors has been under her watch! She also rivals Chapek for Least Personable CEO award.

Firing Chapek suddenly and bringing Iger back in a panic over the weekend is not something that inspires great confidence after the surprise wears off.
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I have to agree. It just seems like a quick short term act of desperation. Heck it's a short term CEO job. I don't understand the decision making at all.

Bob Iger is clearly not their future, they want him to pick a new CEO when he did an awful job last go around.

Oh well Iger gets another 25 million a year while clueless Disney fans think their "savior" is back.

Iger is as careless and greedy as anyone, but he does do good publicity at least and doesn't trash talk actors or people's waistlines.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
CaptinEO said:
I have to agree. It just seems like a quick short term act of desperation. Heck it's a short term CEO job. I don't understand the decision making at all.

Bob Iger is clearly not their future, they want him to pick a new CEO when he did an awful job last go around.

Oh well Iger gets another 25 million a year while clueless Disney fans think their "savior" is back.
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Yup. It’s also why this was front page news today all over the country.

It has to be one of the weirdest, and most panicky, business decisions in modern American corporate history. I simply can’t think of anything like it.

The panic in Burbank is obviously real.
 
Tom P.

Tom P.

Well-Known Member
monothingie said:
Disney is in a unique situation because of their exposure in having 3 different streaming services. Most of which are bundled and most of which are not organic subscribers. (eg bundled with cellphone or telco or cable provider) I would wager that if most current D+, ESPN+, or Hulu subscribers had to pay directly for their subscriptions the situation would be much worse.
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Absolutely agree. For example, we have ESPN+ because we wanted Disney+ and Hulu. I occasionally use it to watch a football game. But if it were not included in the bundle, there is absolutely no chance I'd pay for it separately. Yet I am counted in the ESPN+ subscriber numbers.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
MerlinTheGoat said:
If he's performing up to par with board/shareholder expectations and still wanted to do the job, I don't see what would prevent this. There are plenty of really old CEO's out there. Roy Disney was CEO until his death at 78, and would have continued on had he not died. Warren Buffett and Rupert Murdock are both in their 90s.
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Murdoch and Buffett are wild outliers who essentially built their companies from scratch (Berkshire Hathaway existed prior to Buffett, but it was solely a textiles company and a relatively small one). While Iger obviously expanded Disney significantly, he arguably didn't even grow it as much as Eisner, and neither are comparable to Buffett/Murdoch in that regard. They're more like Walt and Roy Disney.

I also think Murdoch stepped down as CEO of at least 21st Century Fox (not sure about News Corp) a few years ago, although I'm not 100% sure about that.

That's not to say it's impossible Iger could still be CEO at 80 -- if the company is doing incredibly well and he's showing no signs of slowing down it could happen -- it's just very unlikely.
 
Model3 McQueen

Model3 McQueen

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
TP2000 said:
This whole thing is a giant mess. I can't think of any other situation like it in recent American business. Can you?

The Board of Directors deserves a big chunk of blame here. They're looking more and more like the Soviet Politburo rubber stamping things in the dead of night in the waning days before the Soviet collapse.

But then, GM CEO Mary Barra is on the Disney Board, and look at what a dysfunctional mess General Motors has been under her watch! She also rivals Chapek for Least Personable CEO award.

Firing Chapek suddenly and bringing Iger back in a panic over the weekend is not something that inspires great confidence after the surprise wears off.
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Oh yes, Mary. She led the EV movement you know :rolleyes: you led, Mary! so also she must know a thing or two about theme parks, entertainment, and media, right?

The whole board looks like a definition of incompetence. They extended Chapek's contract merely months ago!!
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Model3 McQueen said:
Oh yes, Mary. She led the EV movement you know :rolleyes: you led, Mary! so also she must know a thing or two about theme parks, entertainment, and media, right?
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Exactly. She's a fool and a cubicle drone at heart. Also charmless, much like Chapek.

Never underestimate the importance of charm. Chapek's lack of it helped do him in. Mary Barra is the same, but also has extremely weak financials to support her charmless self.

Model3 McQueen said:
The whole board looks like a definition of incompetence. They extended Chapek's contract merely months ago!!
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They're a joke, really.

Burbank only lucked out in that this is a holiday week where schools are closed and people are barely working. Next Monday, November 28th there needs to be some serious communication on why this decision was made and what Bob Iger's deliverables must be in 2023 before he departs again in '24.

This is one of the weirdest executive moves in modern American history. Unprecedented, really.

So they desperately need to explain why this happened, and what it means for the next year.
 
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dmw

dmw

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
TP2000 said:
This whole thing is a giant mess. I can't think of any other situation like it in recent American business. Can you?
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Yes. See the Hewlett-Packard history under Carly Fiorina and her battle with Bill Hewlett's son. I think that was actually worse. And the day Carly got fired you could hear the "Ding, dong the witch is dead" around the company. Sadly, the HP woes did not end with her firing. And, I think the Disney woes will not end with Chapek's firing, either.
 
Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
dmw said:
Yes. See the Hewlett-Packard history under Carly Fiorina and her battle with Bill Hewlett's son. I think that was actually worse. And the day Carly got fired you could hear the "Ding, dong the witch is dead" around the company. Sadly, the HP woes did not end with her firing. And, I think the Disney woes will not end with Chapek's firing, either.
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HP was a failed company when Fiorina came and when she left. She was terrible, no doubt, but HP lost its way long before. It's not a leader in anything and ran a failed hardware biz with a third tier services biz.

Disney is still the undisputed leader in theme parks, content, movies, sports, etc. ESPN is a huge asset. Disney Parks are still a clear #1. Disney owns unbelievable content assets like Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, etc. That is dominant. Their streaming platforms are drowning in subscribers who love Disney content. The execution has been poor.

The fact Disney hasn't done well is PURELY due to terrible management and out of control costs at Disney+, both which are fixable. This is step 1. Iger is the perfect stop gap to hire the RIGHT CEO and get the ship re-stabilized. Covid also jarred the company to its core and the management swap at that time was a perfect storm of terrible timing.

So the difference is Disney is still the leader in entertainment and there is no excuse for such poor performance. As a shareholder, my hands are bleeding from the applause of this move.
 
pdude81

pdude81

Well-Known Member
I really just want Iger to step in and overpay (in today's dollars) for NFL Sunday Ticket since Chapek didn't. Put it as a higher tier on ESPN+ or an add on service. Letting Apple grab a big chunk of sports streaming would be dangerous.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
I do wonder if there will be discussions on the return of Magical Express...This is one factor that is quite important especially heading down here and I'm sure while the sunshine flyer is helping the convenience of paying round-trip. DME having the free bus ride to the resort was the best way to start the trip and I do hope there will be negotiations with Mears about this down the line..
 

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