Staggs resigns

the.dreamfinder

the.dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
DGracey said:
A name not referenced around this place enough is ... Isaac Perlmutter.

When Disney got Marvel, it got Ike too.

The Marvel purchase made Perlmutter one of the largest single shareholders of the Walt Disney Company.

And being the largest shareholder comes with great power and sway - with the board and over Iger (it's like Sid Bass' control over Eisner all over again).

Who has Isaac Perlmutter not liked in the Disney executive suite for years? Tom Staggs.

Rumours continually persisted Ike did not respect Staggs creative sensibilities or decisions.

In short Disney history - Perlmutter got former Consumer Products head Andy Mooney booted because he didn't like the way Marvel characters were sold, so he got someone he liked put into head that division - Bob Chapek. Then when Staggs moved to COO and Chapek took his place at Parks, Staggs put Leslie Ferraro in Consumer Products. Guess what happened there? Perlmutter did not like Staggs choice in Ferraro either - and poof - 9 months into her new role she was already gone.

Perlmutter likely strongly signalled - as Disney's largest shareholder and an activist one at that - there was no way he was supporting Staggs for the top job. And Disney's board (representing shareholders!) got the message too - Staggs was clearly out. Staggs got the message.

Iger put Staggs in the COO post so he could prove he was a worthy heir. But it actually proved the opposite - it was never meant to be.
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Ike is powerful, but he tends to keep to his own fiefdom in NYC. Both George Lucas and Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve's widow, have much larger stakes in the company.
 
B

BrowncatP

Member
The value of my Tom Staggs autographed D-23 2013 Expo program just went South along with him leaving. I hope his replacement doesn't like "beans!"
 
BrerJon

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Iger doesn't have that level of trust, he bought already successful people and they were expected to do what they do. None of these big creatives were brought in by Disney or cultivated by Disney. Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm already did their own production before Disney's acquisition, maintaining pure distribution deals like they had would have been enough.
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People who say Iger is a genius because he bought Pixar and Star Wars... that's like me saying I'm a technological genius because I bought an iPhone. Buying something is not the same as making it.
 
TeddyinMO

TeddyinMO

Well-Known Member
I have a different theory. I think this is a sign of something big coming, but I haven't seen it hinted anywhere. Iger needs a big boost right now. Iger's biggest successes have been major acquisitions, and I think we are line for a doozy.

As @BrianLo pointed out, many of Disney's best execs came from acquisitions too, including Iger. So, what would a CEO of a major company want as part of a deal? To be first in line, so they show Staggs the door with a nice parting gift. Then, six months from now the bombshell drops that Disney is purchasing -------- (the billion dollar question is who???) and the CEO is named as Disney COO and Iger's successor. He/she has 18-24 months to learn the company and Iger walks off into the sunset.

Now, it's all a theory, but the dots do connect. And, I have no idea of the company that could be acquired, but I think it would need to fill the major gap in Disney... Content distribution. The question would be if Iger would go for a Netflix type company or go the pipeline approach and buy a cable company like a newly combined Charter/Time Warner.

Don't forget that DIS is sitting on a huge amount of cash and repurchased stock. The funding is there. Just throwing it out there.
 
CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Well-Known Member
BrerJon said:
People who say Iger is a genius because he bought Pixar and Star Wars... that's like me saying I'm a technological genius because I bought an iPhone. Buying something is not the same as making it.
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The claim isn't that Iger is a technological or creative genius, but an M&A genius. Buying an iPhone isn't the same as buying APPLE. There are legitimate gripes with Iger but your analogy is awful.
 
LAKid53

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
TeddyinMO said:
I have a different theory. I think this is a sign of something big coming, but I haven't seen it hinted anywhere. Iger needs a big boost right now. Iger's biggest successes have been major acquisitions, and I think we are line for a doozy.

As @BrianLo pointed out, many of Disney's best execs came from acquisitions too, including Iger. So, what would a CEO of a major company want as part of a deal? To be first in line, so they show Staggs the door with a nice parting gift. Then, six months from now the bombshell drops that Disney is purchasing -------- (the billion dollar question is who???) and the CEO is named as Disney COO and Iger's successor. He/she has 18-24 months to learn the company and Iger walks off into the sunset.

Now, it's all a theory, but the dots do connect. And, I have no idea of the company that could be acquired, but I think it would need to fill the major gap in Disney... Content distribution. The question would be if Iger would go for a Netflix type company or go the pipeline approach and buy a cable company like a newly combined Charter/Time Warner.

Don't forget that DIS is sitting on a huge amount of cash and repurchased stock. The funding is there. Just throwing it out there.
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Intriguing. Mimicking what Comcast did when it purchased NBC/Universal. But in reverse.
 
BrerJon

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
JustInTime said:
Any chance this could improve and plans for the parks (or make worse) like what happened with the fantasyland expansion?
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It's quite a coincidence this happens the same day that massive cuts to the already pathetic Toy Story Land were made public. That the company is being so open about having to slash and burn might show that there are plenty at the higher levels who aren't at all happy about things and don't mind the public knowing it.
 
CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Well-Known Member
TeddyinMO said:
I have a different theory. I think this is a sign of something big coming, but I haven't seen it hinted anywhere. Iger needs a big boost right now. Iger's biggest successes have been major acquisitions, and I think we are line for a doozy.

As @BrianLo pointed out, many of Disney's best execs came from acquisitions too, including Iger. So, what would a CEO of a major company want as part of a deal? To be first in line, so they show Staggs the door with a nice parting gift. Then, six months from now the bombshell drops that Disney is purchasing -------- (the billion dollar question is who???) and the CEO is named as Disney COO and Iger's successor. He/she has 18-24 months to learn the company and Iger walks off into the sunset.

Now, it's all a theory, but the dots do connect. And, I have no idea of the company that could be acquired, but I think it would need to fill the major gap in Disney... Content distribution. The question would be if Iger would go for a Netflix type company or go the pipeline approach and buy a cable company like a newly combined Charter/Time Warner.

Don't forget that DIS is sitting on a huge amount of cash and repurchased stock. The funding is there. Just throwing it out there.
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Acquisition maybe. But not a digital or cable company. Disney is a substantial owner of Hulu.
 
TeddyinMO

TeddyinMO

Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica said:
Acquisition maybe. But not a digital or cable company. Disney is a substantial owner of Hulu.
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I considered that, but I don't think that would matter. Comcast and Fox own just as much of Hulu as Disney. Hulu is a distribution tool but it's not just Disney's. It's everybody's. And Hulu - like Netflix - still needs a pipeline to run through, which is why I lean towards something bigger.
 
BlueSkyDriveBy

BlueSkyDriveBy

Well-Known Member
From the NYT article:

In a statement, Disney said the board “will broaden the scope of its succession planning process to identify and evaluate a robust slate of candidates for consideration.”​

Disney "will broaden the scope" of its search? Like, what... off planet?

Perhaps they're considering Kylo Ren. :eek:

Given the last two Executive Hunger Games, it wouldn't be out of character. :in pain:
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
BrerJon said:
People who say Iger is a genius because he bought Pixar and Star Wars... that's like me saying I'm a technological genius because I bought an iPhone. Buying something is not the same as making it.
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That's really not the same and there is a long history of those acquiring companies messing up their acquisitions. But if Apple was to be acquired by a company that wants to get into smartphones it doesn't make a lot of sense to shut down the iPhone program. Iger's big acquisitions was about purchasing established franchises, not a creative culture, some proprietary advantage or key personelle (except the overworked Lasseter).
 

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