News The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors Extends Robert A. Iger’s Contract as CEO Through 2026

[Trauma]

I don’t see how he makes it to the end of the year…
Because the stock just has nothing to grow on

Stocks are valued on projections of future cash flows.

I could make a case that Disney stock should be $158.04 a share.

I could also make a case it should be valued at $63.82 cents a share.

Right now the market thinks it’s worth $90.50.

At some point value investors will start buying when they see their downside risk is much less then the upside reward.

However if Disney management is not able to reboot the company in a new direction the downside risks are real.

My problem with all the D+ will be profitable talk is ok but how profitable ?

Its margins are no where near Netflix.

Yes we have parks growth, but the majority of that is international and specifically in China.

Is that a reliable market for the next 25 years?

So many questions that remain to be answered.

 

[lazyboy97o]

This isn't the argument, though -- that's a separate discussion.

I don't think anyone in this thread has suggested they think Iger should stay full-stop; they're simply saying he's preferable to Jay Rasulo, Ike Perlmutter, and Nelson Peltz.

Most people would be happy to show Iger the door in favor of a decent candidate.

It’s the very definition of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. It completely betrays many of the supposed concerns. The idea that Disney needs is more movies like any of the existing Fantastic Four movies is laughable. That the parks should focus more on real estate development outside the parks and even further reduce spending on attractions is similarly laughable.

 

[britain]

It’s the very definition of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. It completely betrays many of the supposed concerns. The idea that Disney needs is more movies like any of the existing Fantastic Four movies is laughable. That the parks should focus more on real estate development outside the parks and even further reduce spending on attractions is similarly laughable.

Just so I’m clear, is the Fantastic Four thing and the real estate thing… are those Iger suggestions or Peltz suggestions?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This isn't the argument, though -- that's a separate discussion.

I don't think anyone in this thread has suggested they think Iger should stay full-stop; they're simply saying he's preferable to Jay Rasulo, Ike Perlmutter, and Nelson Peltz.

Most people would be happy to show Iger the door in favor of a decent candidate.

It doesn’t have to be binary choice between:
1. Iger staying forever with autonomy
2. Perlmutter given control to strip mine the entire outfit

Compromise is always a possibility…there’s a lot of
People with big money involved here.
If state street (shout out to my first bank Mellon!), Blackrock or Vanguard decide a new leader/board is more effective…it can go that way too.

History lesson: what Disney ceo was put there as a straight up compromise?

 

[britain]

History lesson: what Disney ceo was put there as a straight up compromise?

I’ll answer Iger? Part of the Eisner team but Eisner himself had to be removed.

 

[Casper Gutman]

A quick reminder of who Perlmutter is - he tried to block Captain Marvel and Black Panther films, said replacing Trevor Howard with Don Cheadle was fine because audiences can’t tell one African-American actor from another, and threatened to shoot a female subordinate (with a gun license he was convicted of bribery for paying to expedite). He stopped publishing Fantastic Four, the foundation of the Marvel Age and the purest link to Lee and Kirby, and eliminated them and the X-Men from merchandise because he was mad at Fox. He tried to push out Feige, the most successful producer since Selznick. The purest example of his “storytelling” ability is the dreadful failed Eternals TV show. He’s a terrible executive and (less relevant but still significant) a terrible person.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’ll answer Iger?

10 points

Neither Roy nor Eisner liked Iger much…they both felt he was non-creative…

But he was internal and stable so was acceptable to stop the war and go their separate ways.

He’s the backup qb…nothing more. He gets credit for doing as well as he has…but wasn’t a first round pick. Past time to move on. That is ok.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

A quick reminder of who Perlmutter is - he tried to block Captain Marvel and Black Panther films, said replacing Trevor Howard with Don Cheadle was fine because audiences can’t tell one African-American actor from another, and threatened to shoot a female subordinate (with a gun license he was convicted of bribery for paying to expedite). He stopped publishing Fantastic Four, the foundation of the Marvel Age and the purest link to Lee and Kirby, and eliminated them and the X-Men from merchandise because he was mad at Fox. He tried to push out Feige, the most successful producer since Selznick. The purest example of his “storytelling” ability is the dreadful failed Eternals TV show. He’s a terrible executive and (less relevant but still significant) a terrible person.

Nobody WANTS Perlmutter…we just don’t want Iger rot to continue.

 

[Trauma]

A quick reminder of who Perlmutter is - he tried to block Captain Marvel and Black Panther films, said replacing Trevor Howard with Don Cheadle was fine because audiences can’t tell one African-American actor from another, and threatened to shoot a female subordinate (with a gun license he was convicted of bribery for paying to expedite). He stopped publishing Fantastic Four, the foundation of the Marvel Age and the purest link to Lee and Kirby, and eliminated them and the X-Men from merchandise because he was mad at Fox. He tried to push out Feige, the most successful producer since Selznick. The purest example of his “storytelling” ability is the dreadful failed Eternals TV show. He’s a terrible executive and (less relevant but still significant) a terrible person.

Who’s fault is it that we don’t have a successor to Iger?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Who’s fault is it that we don’t have a successor to Iger?

Pick me! Pick me!!!

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I didn’t label you is anything.

I have no idea who you are.

A blanket statement was made about Iger detractors.

I simply returned the favor.

Your first mistake here was to boil this down as a black and white situation- Defenders vs detractors. I'd wager the majority of people here (outside of a few weirdos) are already Iger detractors.

Lets say you strap someone to a chair and force them to make a choice between two buttons. One of the buttons amputates one of your hands, while the other button rips out vital organs with a 100% chance of death. Most people would probably not accuse people who picked the hand button a "defender of hand amputation". But simply acknowledge that one option is very clearly the more destructive and deadly one.

Iger is the hand amputation button. Peltz and his group are the vital organ rippers.

And for anyone who thinks the parks can't get any worse, woof...

It doesn’t have to be binary choice between:
1. Iger staying forever with autonomy
2. Perlmutter given control to strip mine the entire outfit

Compromise is always a possibility…there’s a lot of
People with big money involved here.
If state street (shout out to my first bank Mellon!), Blackrock or Vanguard decide a new leader/board is more effective…it can go that way too.

History lesson: what Disney ceo was put there as a straight up compromise?

Compromising to give anyone in the Peltz faction ANY amount of power would be the equivalent of hitting BOTH buttons in my aforementioned Saw trap. No one involved in that group is going to do anything other than make things worse for everyone.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Compromising to give anyone in the Peltz faction ANY amount of power would be the equivalent of hitting BOTH buttons in my aforementioned Saw trap. No one involved in that group is going to do anything other than make things worse for everyone.

Iger has failed. So what’s your plan?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Iger has failed. So what’s your plan?

Root hard for Iger to completely defeat the pirates, hope Iger leaves wholly of his own volition after a couple years of box office and park success, and acknowledge that whoever comes next will very likely be worse but not as bad as if Peltz won.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Stock heading to the $80’s again…

Don’t they KNOW about all the D+ that started pouring in on Monday?!?

 

[Trauma]

Your first mistake here was to boil this down as a black and white situation- Defenders vs detractors. I'd wager the majority of people here (outside of a few weirdos) are already Iger detractors.

Lets say you strap someone to a chair and force them to make a choice between two buttons. One of the buttons amputates one of your hands, while the other button rips out vital organs with a 100% chance of death. Most people would probably not accuse people who picked the hand button a "defender of hand amputation". But simply acknowledge that one option is very clearly the more destructive and deadly one.

Iger is the hand amputation button. Peltz and his group are the vital organ rippers.

And for anyone who thinks the parks can't get any worse, woof...


Compromising to give anyone in the Peltz faction ANY amount of power would be the equivalent of hitting BOTH buttons in my aforementioned Saw trap. No one involved in that group is going to do anything other than make things worse for everyone.

Peltz is the direct result of Iger.

The solution to Peltz is not more Iger.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Root hard for Iger to completely defeat the pirates, hope Iger leaves wholly of his own volition after a couple years of box office and park success, and acknowledge that whoever comes next will very likely be worse but not as bad as if Peltz won.

Do you realize what has happened since 2020?

There’s no chance of Captain ego leaving now.


And there is no box office/park success on deck. They’re both losing audience by the handfuls in a GOOD economy. That has never happened before. And should not happen.

I’d advise you to not read the threads to come about 2024 wdw attendance. It’s already known and you’re not gonna like it. We don’t need repeats of that hellscape box office thread.

 

[TalkingHead]

When people are bellyaching about box office performance then Iger’s overall tenure really is unprecedented. He oversaw an incredible run of box office domination. I can go dig up posts from years ago about my concerns with the home run franchise model but the fact is that while the engine was running hot it was raking in the cash. Recognizing the financial success isn’t an endorsement of the creative direction. People are deliberately trying to conflate the two and they’re not synonymous.

The franchise strategy has led to this moment. Nice that it succeeded for a decade, but Iger has no other cards to play. He’s got nothing but franchises that have dramatically lost popularity, IP that requires massive budgets, and studios that seem incapable of marketing mid-budget and/or original alternatives. So who cares if Iger stays? The guy has effectively run the movie business into the ground.

 

[Trauma]

Root hard for Iger to completely defeat the pirates, hope Iger leaves wholly of his own volition after a couple years of box office and park success, and acknowledge that whoever comes next will very likely be worse but not as bad as if Peltz won.

In order for me to take your argument seriously can you please tell me where this box office success is going to be coming from ?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Just so I’m clear, is the Fantastic Four thing and the real estate thing… are those Iger suggestions or Peltz suggestions?

Perlmutter was not a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is the one who set up the licensing deals with Fox and Sony that required content to just be churned out. He doesn’t actually care about the quality of the content.

Rasulo was a big proponent the idea that the DisneyParks (his branding creation) were an expensive, mature business and that Disney should focus investment elsewhere. He was a big proponent of developing regional entertainment centers but not old ideas like a festival marketplace with attractions like the proposed Burbank Entertainment Center or Texposition and Downtown Disney with Pleasure Island (which he closed), or even something like Universal Horror Unleashed. Think more DVC with extra shopping. He’s the guy who had Matt Ouimet pushed out (although making it clear you want your boss canned so you can take his job was probably not the wisest strategy).

 

[JD80]

My personal bias is at play here, but I’d say it’s a bit different - old films still exist. Rides that are replaced or removed don’t. No matter how often Zach Snyder or his ilk produce awful remakes of Seven Samurai, I can still watch Kurosawa’s.

Well sure, but are theme parks expected to keep all rides and attractions the way they were originally in perpetuity? And if a favorite ride is changes shouldn't the appropriate response be some combination of disappointment or sadness and not anger and vitriol?