News Chapek FIRED, Iger New CEO

[The Grand Inquisitor]

It will be very interesting to see how Bob Chapek manages the company after all of this is over. I fear we may have a lot more budget cuts and projects being abandoned.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

What's Still On and What's Now Off

I know I said I wouldn't be posting anything during the pandemic, but I received some information about the severity of cuts coming for projects at WDW. I thought I'd make a brief post about that, although there are much more important issues in the world today. I likely won't be checking in...

forums.wdwmagic.com

Dang if this stuff is true it's going to be a bleak future for Disney.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Let's put this CEO thing into perspective.

Note ... I don't endorse any of these news sites or articles. Read at your own risk.

The great CEO exodus of 2020

Three chief executives left their posts on Tuesday.

fortune.com

CEOs Quitting in Record Numbers Could Signal Total Stock Market Collapse | CCN.com

www.ccn.com

Why have more than 1,300 CEOs left their post in the past year?

“Boards have been too compliant and they’re finally recognizing it’s their job to be vigilant about chief executive misbehavior,” said one advocate for corporate governance.

www.nbcnews.com

WSJ News Exclusive | Amazon’s Bezos, Other Corporate Executives Sold Shares Just in Time

Corporate executives and officers spared themselves $1.9 billion in paper losses by selling a total of $9.2 billion in shares as the pandemic loomed over the stock market, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.

www.wsj.com

Dianne Feinstein, 3 Senate colleagues sold off stocks before coronavirus crash: reports

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and three of her Senate colleagues reported selling off stocks worth millions of dollars in the days before the coronavirus outbreak crashed the market, according to reports.

www.foxnews.com

 

[JoeCamel]

Let's put this CEO thing into perspective.

Note ... I don't endorse any of these news sites or articles. Read at your own risk.

The great CEO exodus of 2020

Three chief executives left their posts on Tuesday.

fortune.com

CEOs Quitting in Record Numbers Could Signal Total Stock Market Collapse | CCN.com

www.ccn.com

Why have more than 1,300 CEOs left their post in the past year?

“Boards have been too compliant and they’re finally recognizing it’s their job to be vigilant about chief executive misbehavior,” said one advocate for corporate governance.

www.nbcnews.com

WSJ News Exclusive | Amazon’s Bezos, Other Corporate Executives Sold Shares Just in Time

Corporate executives and officers spared themselves $1.9 billion in paper losses by selling a total of $9.2 billion in shares as the pandemic loomed over the stock market, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.

www.wsj.com

Dianne Feinstein, 3 Senate colleagues sold off stocks before coronavirus crash: reports

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and three of her Senate colleagues reported selling off stocks worth millions of dollars in the days before the coronavirus outbreak crashed the market, according to reports.

www.foxnews.com

Right, they have very good financial advice and took the adviser's advice. I don't think any of them changed jobs on a random Tuesday shortly after a quarterly earnings call though. The writing was on the wall and they all understood what was ahead by that time. The Bob and Bob show was different.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

Right, they have very good financial advice and took the adviser's advice. I don't think any of them changed jobs on a random Tuesday shortly after a quarterly earnings call though. The writing was on the wall and they all understood what was ahead by that time. The Bob and Bob show was different.

I really wonder why Iger stepped down so quickly if it had nothing to do with the virus or a presidential run.

 

[UNCgolf]

I really wonder why Iger stepped down so quickly if it had nothing to do with the virus or a presidential run.

I'm guessing it was almost entirely because of the virus.

But I think it was because he knew staying would require him to stay as CEO long-term and he didn't want to do that. It's going to take a few years for Disney to fully recover from this, and it would look terrible for the company (as well as reflect poorly on the CEO personally) for someone to step down in the middle of a crisis. It was either get out immediately or bunker down and prepare to be CEO for several more years while dealing with a much harder situation.

 

[seascape]

Assuming The Wakt Disney Company knew how bad Covid1was and that Bob Iger was unwilling to extend his contract again, the change needed to take place immediately. It is critical that whoever is going to be incharge of company next year run the company during this time and it's restart. I hope the Company takes full advantage of this time and makes good decisions. However, since none of us know how long this shutdown will last or the total cost to Disney during this time or how fast people will return, we should give Disney a break right now.

 

[larryz]

Assuming The Wakt Disney Company knew how bad Covid1was and that Bob Iger was unwilling to extend his contract again, the change needed to take place immediately. It is critical that whoever is going to be incharge of company next year run the company during this time and it's restart. I hope the Company takes full advantage of this time and makes good decisions. However, since none of us know how long this shutdown will last or the total cost to Disney during this time or how fast people will return, we should give Disney a break right now.

No need to assume. Disney partners with the Chinese in Shanghai and Hong Kong. I'm sure they were being kept in the loop as things developed in China.

 

[DisneyTalks]

Not a fan of chapek, and hoping he's just a placeholder for the least amount of years to come. He seems like a cheap, more boring, less charismatic version of Bob iger.
Im just hoping for someone who has the creativeness and child like imagination of Walt Disney, the ballsiness of Michael Eisner, and the smartness of business handling like iger.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney's certainly saving money not hiring a new President of Parks (et al.).

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I don't have a solid answer yet. I'm working every contact I have, but this took many people completely by surprise. I mean, let me run through some of the ramifications:

1) The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down huge sources of revenue for Disney and can potentially increase exponentially. This is one of the most dangerous times for the company, certainly the most dangerous since 9/11 and could end up being worse.
2) Lucasfilm is moving into dangerous territory for profitability and Chapek does not have the acumen or the gravitas to remove Kathleen Kennedy... Iger did.
3) Fox movies inherited into the Disney company have been almost universally losses and look to continue damaging the company's bottom line. And given that these properties are generating losses, that indicates systemic issues in those studios.
4) Chapek is simply not viewed as anywhere near competent to run a company of this scale. Chapek couldn't run the Parks division and has a shoddy track record. With this sudden announcement out of nowhere in the most volatile time period the company has faced in decades, the stock price could take a huge hit tomorrow morning.
5) There is fear Iger wanted to "lock in" now, suddenly and abruptly.
6) Marvel's future is not as strong as it was leading up to Endgame. The future slate of movies is not viewed within the company and the industry as being strong, and there is significant push to get X-Men up and running... but so far that's not moving as quickly as many would like. Iger was able to form a great partnership with Feige in making Marvel a huge success - Chapek does not have that relationship, and will likely get run over.

As soon as I get more info I'll pass it along. As of now, all I am hearing is that a) there is more to the story, b) this was not planned as of a relatively short time ago, and c) politics are in play here. I don't know what those mean yet.

Since there is a big push in Marvel for the X-Men when could we stuff announced for it? What about the Fantastic Four?

 

[JoeCamel]

BTW, has anyone mentioned how when Bob took over everything went out the window lately? Just thought I would cause I need to do some blamin'

 

[WDW Pro]

No need to assume. Disney partners with the Chinese in Shanghai and Hong Kong. I'm sure they were being kept in the loop as things developed in China.

Not necessarily kept in the loop by the CCP, but they weren't blind either.

 

[larryz]

Not necessarily kept in the loop by the CCP, but they weren't blind either.

I wonder how many employees in either Chinese park were from, and had relatives living (and dying) in Wuhan and Hubei Province... they would have told their managers, who would have told their suits, who would have upchanneled the information... and so on.

With the government saying "we got this," Disney was in a precarious situation while wanting to close but unable because it would undercut the government's stance.

Fortunately, it worked out at the front end. As for the back end, you have to wonder how long Bob Jr can resist the government pressure to re-open the parks.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Either way, I bet Iger's enjoying his quarantine with a little extra sweet sauce right about now.

 

[Darkprime]

Anyone else seeing reports that Iger is CEO again? Lol.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Anyone else seeing reports that Iger is CEO again? Lol.

Yup. NYT says he’s back in control, and plans to radically and permanently redesign how Disney works, most notably by employing a lot fewer people.

Exciting.

 

[Darkprime]

Kinda feel bad for Chapek he was CEO for all but what a month and a half?

 

[JoeCamel]

Kinda feel bad for Chapek he was CEO for all but what a month and a half?

He gets to keep his key to the executive loo though. Don't feel too sorry for him.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

https:///2020/04/bob-iger-resuming-ceo-role-disney-ec1/

This really is nuts. So Chapek is done as CEO then? Is Iger extending his contract?