Staggs resigns

[Captain Chaos]

Captain! Welcome Back! Did you bring JJ?

No.. Just brought... him

 

[doctornick]

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.

Well, Time Warner is hanging out there and is rumored to be a possible takeover target. Supposedly, Fox was looking at them, but it fell through. There's been smoke about Disney being interested in the past. HBO would be certainly desirable, as would many of the Turner networks.

 

[artvandelay]

No.. Just brought... him

I think he went to medical school in Rangoon!

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Agreed, and there is a point where a desired timeline can no longer be achieved, even with a full park and people tossing out fistfuls of RMBs.


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.

I agree with the exception of Pixar. Those movies were distributed, financed, greenlit and owned by Disney even before the studio itself was bought out formally. Unlike Lucasfilm and Marvel, there is no Pixar as the major animation giant that we know today without Disney.

 

[PhotoDave219]

No.. Just brought... him

Tell me you brought the car and Jackie Chan with him?

 

[PhotoDave219]

I think a lot of people are missing the point. Staggs getting Iger's role as the boss meant the status quo. Means the continuation of manidated profit margins. Means the beancounters continuing to be in charge over the creatives. Means the spreadsheet culture continues to win.

This is undeniably a step in the right direction.

 

[doctornick]

I feel this has much more to do with ESPN than anything going on in Shanghai, MM+, or anything parks related.


Despite our feelings about the parks, from a bottom line standpoint they are solid. Attendance is up, profits are up, and even with cost over runs in Shanghai the cuts in other parks will off set them. From the perspective of the BOD they are probably happy with the Parks and Resorts division.


Disney's biggest problem is ESPN. The Media Markets division of Disney makes up 50% of their profit. ESPN is the biggest earner of that group and has for many years pulled in the cash. However cord cutting is a major concern and of all cable channels, ESPN may be the least prepared. It has huge contracts with the NFL, MLB, NCAA, etc. The model of ESPN is built upon the bundling of their channels with others. These contracts work in the model of ESPN being bundled with other channels to increase it's subscribers, but put it on a single platform and those contracts become a major liability. Wall Street is scarred of ESPN. That makes the BOD scarred of Tom Staggs and his inexperience with Media Markets. He spent the last year focusing mainly on this division.


From the perspective of the BOD, the next CEOs most important job will be dealing with the major problem of ESPN.

I don't agree with WDW1974 on many things, but this is one area where I do believe he is correct. ESPN is not a "problem" and certainly not a "major problem". Is Wall Street "concerned" about ESPN? Absolutely -- because that network and division of Disney has been making obscene profits year after year and cord cutting is, well, cutting into those profits. But that simply means that instead of making massive profits, ESPN will only be making big profits in the foreseeable future. ESPN's "problems" are Wall St constructs of it not doing "good enough" not that it won't be profitable or a solid, viable division in the future.

The next CEO will have to deal with the fact that ESPN won't be the golden goose it has been and functioning as a limitless ATM, so they'll have to find somewhere else to turn to in order to generate profits and make the books look good.

 

[Seabasealpha1]

To heck with it... what's Eisner up to?

 

[Donaldfan1934]

You gave Staggs some credit that he didn't deserve. Staggs didn't have as much to do with the New Fantasyland as you think. Jay Rasulo actually was the person who approved New Fantasy Land. Remember Staggs replaced Rasulo in his final 2 positions of the company.

What Staggs did was change parts of New Fantasyland in terms of adding the Mine Train and most of the Storybook Circus theme. Those changes delayed New Fantasyland. Jay's version of New Fantasyland involved Dueling Dumbos, the Mermaid ride, the Beauty and the Beast Meet and Greet, Be Out Guest Restaurant, and the never built Pixie Hallow area full of meet and greets.

While Staggs played a role for mymagic plus, it actually was Jay Rasulo's baby. MM+ was something Jay came up with and Iger actually approved it with when Jay was the President of the theme division. The only things Staggs really had to deal with it was adding it to WDW.

Staggs was sole responsible for Shanghai and Avatar. The catch with Avatar was, the deal was done before there was plans of what attractions were going to be built.

I'm not a Disney executive appologist, but I think you're giving Staggs too little credit. As you pointed out, most of the land would've been a giant meet and greet without Staggs. In the end, you have to give Staggs credit for commissioning changes that improved the project greatly.

 

[PhotoDave219]

To heck with it... what's Eisner up to?

Enjoying retirement and likely wants no part of this mess....

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I think a lot of people are missing the point. Staggs getting Iger's role as the boss meant the status quo. Means the continuation of manidated profit margins. Means the beancounters continuing to be in charge over the creatives. Means the spreadsheet culture continues to win.

This is undeniably a step in the right direction.

I hope so. If nothing else it's good to see a major cog in the machine of destruction that was strategic planning get taken out and likely leaving with a certain degree of stinging humiliation as a bonus.

Though i also have to consider the possiblility we could end up with even worse next round (yes unfortunately i think there are even worse out there than Iger and his gang)... But it would be nice to have hope for a change. I want to believe.

Hopefully Iger leaves without renewal again, even better if it is further expedited and he is taken out early.

 

[LAKid53]

Another wrinkle in this twisted lemon, is Disney's corporate governance itself.

Media reports claim Staggs came under scrutiny by Disney board members who were not convinced he had the skills for CEO.

A Chief Executive Officer of a company normally deals with and reports to the Chairman of the Board on governance and executive issues.

Who is Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company? Bob Iger.

Who is Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company? Bob Iger.

Bob Iger reports to ... Bob Iger.

I mention this because any way you slice it - Iger had his hands in this Staggs blowup big time. If members of the board did not think Staggs was fit for leadership, is that not an indictment of Iger's decision-making when he was the one who chose and promoted Staggs several times?

If members of the board felt Staggs was not CEO material, is it not an awkward structure to voice their opinion to the Chair of the Board - who also happens to be the CEO who Staggs directly reports to, and is the person solely responsible for Staggs being an Executive in the first place? How convoluted.

This is yet another reason why the positions of Chairman and CEO need to be separate. Iger can not be an objective Chairman when he also serves as CEO. They are two different functions of governance, and for good reason.

Oh - and as Chair of the Board, Iger is even more powerful to recommend a replacement for CEO than he ever would have been simply as CEO. How can a new Disney CEO be an agent of change if they are being appointment by the former CEO.

Save Disney.

In many corporations they are, for the very reasons you mentioned. But then the BoD determines who its chairman is. It can work... provided the BoD selects the right individual. Seems to be working well for Apple and Google.

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Question:

If Staggs was in charge of P&R when Bob Weis replaced Bruce Vaughn... how exactly does Staggs' departure affect Weis' future, if TWDC threw Staggs under the bus because of bad decision making such as... promoting Bob Weis?

Given the problems that SDL has endured for what seems forever, at least some of those problems need to be laid at Weis' feet. And just as we're all discussing the mad dash to complete the park on time -- and the distinct possibility that it wasn't going to happen -- Weis gets Vaughn's job.

Is it possible that Staggs promoted Weis to protect Bob's Disney derriere because Staggs knew what was coming down the pixie dust pipeline? Firing Bob now would look really vindictive and petty on TWDC's part. He should be good, at least for the time being. But it does make me wonder...

Good heavens! It's like the "21st Century Burbank Edition" of Downton Abbey.

 

[LAKid53]

It should be noted in the discussion of Iger as CEO/Chairman of the board that he has only held both titles since 2012.
My guess - no insider board knowledge - is that him becoming CEO/Chairman is part of the succession plan. The board loves Iger and if he could step into the Chairman role exclusively once a new CEO comes in, I'm sure they would love it.

Bingo!

 

[Magenta Panther]

I think a lot of people are missing the point. Staggs getting Iger's role as the boss meant the status quo. Means the continuation of manidated profit margins. Means the beancounters continuing to be in charge over the creatives. Means the spreadsheet culture continues to win.

This is undeniably a step in the right direction.

SOOOO happy to read this...

 

[alphac2005]

[

Well, Time Warner is hanging out there and is rumored to be a possible takeover target. Supposedly, Fox was looking at them, but it fell through. There's been smoke about Disney being interested in the past. HBO would be certainly desirable, as would many of the Turner networks.

The short answer is to not expect it as there are far too many overlapping areas that the Justice Department would frown upon in allowing a merger. The last accurate information that I received was more than two years ago with both Apple and Google doing due dilligence on CBS and that didn't happen for several reasons due to my sources, but it would have covered regulatory muster. The process was so far along with Apple that their lawyers were in house at CBS pouring over the books. I was told that Apple was also interested in several Time-Warner assets, but that went nowhere. I'll try to see if any of my old industry sources have anything new floating out there.

 

[BrerJon]

Staggs was probably better than Rasulo for the parks, but that's not saying much.

Yeah that's like saying catching pneumonia is preferable to catching ebola.

Unfortunately none of the obvious options look likely to make the patient better any time soon.

 

[VJ]

They could always just keep Bob indefinitely and run him in B mode with a strobe.

Best post of this thread (so far).

 

[Captain Neo]

Between this incident and the Shanghai situation, I am beginning to seriously question Bob Iger's leadership and decision making ability.

 

[VJ]

No......

George Lucas brought us Lucasfilm.

Stan Lee brought us Marvel.

Record attendance and record profits resulted in job cuts.

What else ya got, Ethan?

And Walt Disney brought us.. well, Disney.