Staggs resigns

[ford91exploder]

What does she know about being a player in the movie and TV industry or destination resorts?

Zip

 

[Filby61]

The attitudes being expressed have been shaped by Staggs' long career at Disney.

Exactly. And not only by Staggs' career, but by the three decades of executives who made Staggs happen. Staggs was Eisner's Chief Financial Officer for years. The same Eisner who praised Paul Pressler as the Golden Boy of Burbank and promoted him to head Parks & Resorts (the same Pressler who for a time was internally touted as a candidate to succeed Eisner). The same Eisner who promoted Iger. The same Iger who played Musical Chairs with Staggs and Rasulo. The same Iger who promoted, protected and praised Staggs up the ladder. The same Staggs who promoted Chapek to run Parks & Resorts, and promoted Ferraro to replace Chapek.

And so it goes, all the way down the dysfunctional hierarchy that Michael created -- and which remains, largely unchanged in spirit if not in actual personnel, to this day.

 

[ford91exploder]

Oh c'mon. She also has experience at McKinsey, the Department of Treasury and Google and was in line to take a executive leadership at The Washington Post company before joining Facebook. I have no idea whether she'd be a good CEO, but taking Facebook from basically $0 in revenue to $18B in 7 years surely shouldn't disqualify her because its a tech (and now media) company.

Well McKinsey would teach her about 'creative accounting', Treasury 'Misspending others money' WaPo 'Propaganda techniques' yeah a perfect candidate for Iger 2.0

 

[LAKid53]

Has anyone told Zuckerberg that he was just sitting on the couch eating Cheetos while that happened?

Yeah, I guess he didn't need to do anything to make his company a success... all he needed to do was hire her and play Warcraft while eating Cheetos.

 

[SirLink]

People keep on saying Steve Burke and whilst I agree I'll throw another name in the hat Stacey Snider.

 

[Mike S]

+1. I'm only 26 and even I'm appalled at "the kids" and the way they use technology. Walt Disney World should be at the opposite end of the spectrum from "teenager with headphones and toddler with iPad at the family meal."

22 and the same way. Unless you count my checking in here from time to time

 

[TeriofTerror]

Several sources tell me the new CEO has already been picked:
View attachment 136887

I just threw up a little.

 

[njDizFan]

From Variety

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/t...ney-sheryl-sandberg-peter-chernin-1201745286/

This is an interesting paragraph

There’s also a chance that CBS chief Leslie Moonves could find himself in the market for a new perch given the uncertainty surrounding the future of Sumner Redstone’s Viacom and CBS Corp. holdings. One truly outside-the-box possibility might be to buy DreamWorks Animation and install its founder Jeffrey Katzenberg in the corporate suite. His history with the house that Mickey built is a complex and fraught one — the psychological stuff of Greek dramas.

 

[WDW1974]

Been reading this in bits and pieces and, more importantly, what what's left of the mainstream media has been saying.

I see lots of speculation that makes me think that Jason Garcia and Soup and Salad Sandra aren't the only folks who make things up as they write and who think sourcing a story is going to something called 'The Disney Twitter' ... Here's a hint, if Lifestylers and Blogger With No Lives are the best you can do for sources, you might want to not call yourself a real reporter.

OK, now that they got that very well deserved shot ...what have I seen?

Lots of speculation and spin, spin that Tom Staggs wanted out (he did NOT), spin that this was all the Board and not The Weatherman (also NOT), that there's a power play going on by Sheryl Sandberg who wants to replace Staggs (nope, she wants to replace Iger) etc.

Also hearing and reading here the typical fan speculation about the whys. The whys are multiple and they've all been discussed here. I don't believe it was one thing. It was multiple. Although I can tell you the word at 1401 Flower is that Staggs is being scapegoated by Bob and the BoD for multiple issues, but pretty much ... Shanghai Disneyland Resort.

I also hear people talking about this being a power play by Bob looking to stay even longer (please recall we were supposed to be counting down to his June exit right now). While Bob is all ego and bravado (except when he is in China), the fact is he is looking to cash out and will be almost 68 when his contract is up. While that can be middle age in some businesses, Disney is one where you are a senior citizen at 45 and need to leave between 55-60. In other words, very, very unlikely.

Oh, then there's the supposed Marvel fanboi angle. That Old Ike hated Staggs and wanted him gone. That seems to be true, but leaves out a bigger issue: Old Ike hates Iger even more. And he doesn't have the power he did when Marvel wasn't controlled by a rat.

Just some points to ponder ...

 

[WDW1974]

Oh, and did Cecelia's boy, Robert, attempt a spin job this weekend on domestic park cuts not having anything to do with SDL cost overruns?

Yes, he did. I don't know why. If he truly believes the drivel he wrote, then he is just sadly mistaken and he needs better sources. If not, I wonder what quid pro quo is at play there.

 

[WDW1974]

For Disney yes. But the companies that were purchased retain relative autonomy with far greater resources for production and marketing. Allowing for more fringe properties to see greater success. That allows for more confidence in releasing outside the box films, or creating risky shared universes. That level of success allows for a better product.

Whether it was the proper choice for Disney or not, I don't know. Maybe distribution deals would have been smarter for them. But I do think the product (outside of the occasional studio meddled clunker or contrived sequel), so far has benefited from the purchase mostly based on the confidence earned by their continuing success.

Point being, I dislike nearly everything Iger has done with Disney. But I do think that his purchased companies have benefited from the deals, even if the parent company didn't.

I can't speak to Lucasfilm. But talk to people who work at Pixar and Marvel if you believe that.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

The post I was responding to said that not a single person here hates Disney. I said that I disagreed with that. And I still do. I think there are some people here who do actively dislike Disney at this point, and only want to b*tch and complain. I think there are some people here who are also just trolls, trying to stir the pot. I definitely do not think every single poster here loves Disney.

I can tell you that I enjoy going to WDW, and I do watch movies when they come on Blu-ray/DVD, but that doesn't I approve every single thing Disney does.

 

[WDW1974]

Yup....
And I've yet to be convinced that a nation still made up mainly of rural people who've been under the yoke of totalitarian Communism for over half a century can support a massively expensive venture like SDL
Those people likely save their meager incomes for hard times and aren't enamored to "Western" entertainment to the extent that they'll go to Shanghai every year as though it were a pilgrimage to The Forbidden City.
Foreigners will have to support SDL and they can disappear at the drop of a hat, or car bomb, at the hands of some nut case fanatics.
IMO setting up an insanely expensive "fun park" in China is a lot like juggling bottles of nitroglycerin.
Something bad's going to happen eventually.

SDL was built for a Chinese audience. Just read the ENGLISH website. That makes it abundantly clear. There are 300 million people within a 3.5 hour commute. Those people are who the resort was built for. And the 1,000 or so American, Canadian and European Disney Lifestylers who will visit. And the tourists who will visit Shanghai normally as well.

If SDL has to rely on people from anywhere else ... even just Asia ... India ... Vietnam ... Thailand, then it is in a world of trouble. I don't see that happening. The problems of SDL are systemic and start with the deal that Iger put his pen to back in 2009. People are going to show up for this ... how many from MAGIC will be there this year? (I will likely in October)

 

[WDW1974]

Any chance this could improve and plans for the parks (or make worse) like what happened with the fantasyland expansion?

The parks are, for now, firmly in the hands of Chappie (who needs to go) and Weis (who is a great leader for WDI). So, it's a mixed bag, for sure. It is always a good thing when an exec actually cares about the parks (again, Iger has done next to nothing in a decade and has done irreparable damage to some -- see DL getting destroyed for two Star Wars attractions). Everyone forgets that Michael Eisner was downright passionate about the parks for most of his tenure and still visits them regularly with his kids and grands. Iger is only passionate about his power and technology. Having a No. 2 who cares about P&R is very important.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 if this is the first of a series of changes, what are we looking at vis-a-vis timeline?

I'm not sure this is the first. As @RSoxNo1 pointed out, getting rid of Bruce Vaughn might have been that. This is certainly much larger a happening. I don't have a timeline because Zenia never copies me on these things (and I do love her so ... I would wear a Yoda dress and have my light saber ready to go for her!)

I can tell you I'd be very surprised if Bob doesn't have a No. 2 standing next to him when he is with all those scary Commies in Shanghai soon. ... But I also hear that Chappie is looking to lop off 1-2 'names' at the VP level in P&R so he can look tough, but that would still be much less significant than TWDC naming a new No. 2.

Have they contacted you, @Lee?

 

[WDW1974]

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.

It also had Phase II true E-Ticket, but who's counting. Jay's 'plan' that is. And you could really credit Paul Pressler because this project was first proposed in the late 90s when he was running P&R. If we are going to be honest about things.

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.

Again, just partially right. It was actually Rasulo stooge Nick Franklin (remember him? does he have a job yet? I kept hearing from an O-Town fanboi what a big scapegoat he had been and how great he was and how UNI was going to scoop him up ... you know like yesterday's trash ... like Jason Surrell) who failed in every position he had with the company and was about to 'resign to spend more time with the family' when NGE walked into his life. Jim MacPhee (a fan favorite for reasons that escape me, but largely come down to gladhanding the fanbois and allowing a 25th birthDAY celebration at EPCOT) also saved employment with NGE. Both Staggs and Rasulo were huge parts of it, just swapping titles midway through.

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.

The spin has always been that Staggs was responsible for Avatar. That when JK Rowling told Disney to ' off' or some such Potterism, and Bob Iger's feelings were bruised, he went and tried to get Cameron to add an Avatar attraction to The Corpse of The Disney-MGM Studios. He then supposedly to hear the tale told said ''How about a whole land at DAK?" I have no idea how true that is or isn't. Shanghai was ultimately Bob Iger's responsibility. No one but the top man takes responsibility for something of that magnitude, except the BoD that approves the deal.

And I can tell you for a FACT that Jay Rasulo was much more liked by the CCP. He was loud, brusque, sometimes offensive ... exactly how the Chinese believe American media execs are supposed to be. Exactly why they didn't like Staggs and never liked Bob. Exactly why I have been successful working over there (really!) Both the CFO and the Head of P&R had huge impacts on the project. Again, like MM+, it really is impossible to say Staggs was responsible. Not on something of this magnitude.

Hey, you think he might be angry enough to want to write a book with me? Wonder what the language in his contract says about that?

 

[WDW1974]

How do the Pixie Dusters explain the fact WDW is run like it is going out of business tomorrow? Just wondering ...

 

[WDW1974]

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.

And neither have any interest in corporate gamesmanship and who will be the new COO and who will replace Iger.
It just gets fanbois hot and bothered (if the thought of me wearing a Yoda dress commando didn't do the trick) to talk about it. They think it makes them smart. It just makes it look like they used to post here and now hide on Twitter ...

 

[WDW1974]

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.

I agree the analogy is weak.

But calling him a M&A genius is laughable. You couldn't/wouldn't have done the same thing(s) if you had access to billions of shareholder $$$? I don't even like Marvel and I still would have pulled the trigger on that and certainly on Pixar and Lucas. And really, who here would call either of us geniuses?

Bob isn't either. Spending other people's money is easy. Just ask all the O-Town fanbois and Lifestylers living on the money of parents, ex-significant others, family, the government etc ... if you give me your money, I'll spend it. I'll even spend it wisely!

 

[RSoxNo1]

People, by and large, don't watch ESPN for investigative journalism or reporting in general. As long as ESPN features live sports people want to see, they will get viewers. Do you think that folks will just not watch the college football championship or the NBA playoffs because ESPN does shoddy reporting?

ESPN doesn't have as much live for the four main pro sports as you'd think. Sportscenter and Sportscenter like shows are a huge chunk of their programming.

With Ray Rice, Bill Simmons called out Goodell saying that there's no way he didn't see the tape from the elevator. He called Goodell a liar and ESPN suspended Simmons for three weeks. The original Ray Rice suspension for knocking his wife unconscious was only two games. Goodell should have been forced to resign over that but ESPN's failure to stand by there guy allowed Goodell to keep his job and Simmons to ultimately move on from his.

Then because he screwed up the Ray Rice situation, Goodell took that opportunity to use ESPN as his mouthpiece for misinformation surrounding deflategate.

How important can ESPN be if they fear upsetting the NFL so much they can't be objective?