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

[JD80]

yeah I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. Did you ever think that maybe part of the reason they haven’t greenlit big expansion projects in the parks yet and have teased us with just drawings for 2 years now is because other parts of the company are bleeding and at the end of the day it comes down to money?

Main reason is that Chapek basically gutted Imagineering.

Hate Iger all you want, but we did see an incredible amount of new stuff in the parks. in the 5-10 year period prior to COVID.

 

[MrPromey]

What is not to like is you just looked at the last 12 months. The stock high was $191, so even with the recent small spike, still almost $100 a share below their all time high. This stinks when you look at the market as a whole.

On the plus side, I just got my dividend check from the WDC!

Time to take the fam to Chili's!..

As long as everyone sticks to the pick-three menu, that is.

 

[Dranth]

yeah I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. Did you ever think that maybe part of the reason they haven’t greenlit big expansion projects in the parks yet and have teased us with just drawings for 2 years now is because other parts of the company are bleeding and at the end of the day it comes down to money?

See, I think it is more likely that when Chapek got dumped, Imagineering was so depleted that they either had nothing or some really bad projects laid out. Iger said hold it, started building the group back up and let them come up with better alternatives.

I may not like everything he approves, by a long shot, but he was willing to spend money the last 10 years he was CEO on the parks. I doubt this time will be different.

There will be no drastic changes as Iger sincerely believes he is doing everything right.

Even if Peltz gets a seat the board is full of “Iger lovers” so things will continue to run the same way.

Look on the bright side, there are many people, many on these boards that also sincerely believe TWDC is fine as is and should continue business as usual.

Personally I am really just a WDW fan and I want the parks to improve.

I have resigned myself, Iger’s business as usual will NOT help WDW.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, Peltz is not the answer. Iger is gone in a few years. One extension makes sense because two years is a ridiculously short amount of time to implement massive changes and see any real impact. After four however, things will either be going much better and on the upswing in which case he can ride off into the sunset or it hasn't worked and the board will be forced to dump him.

 

[GhostHost1000]

. I just don't understand folks who can't find any good and seem to delight in pointing out the bad (over and over).

Do you think I enjoy talking about all the negative things about Disney and can’t find any good? I’m a multi contract DVC member and have been for many years. AP holder. Go mutiple times and year and have for the last 25+ years. I have a lot of past experiences to see what I see and gauge my thoughts and opinions from.

Things change, I get that, but some trends are worth pointing out and talking about because if we don’t, they’ll do just enough and whatever they can get away with instead of focusing on what made them great

 

[_caleb]

Two things:

1. Bob Iger is presented as the “soul of Disney” when we cannot point out his mistakes. And that happens constantly. And it’s not even him…it’s the really sophomoric idea that you a. Cannot criticize Disney and be a fan b. Disney is so awesome it doesn’t make mistakes.

But nobody is saying you can't point out Iger's mistakes. You do it all day every day. I'm saying, "message received. We get it-you don't like him." Nobody is limiting your freedom of speech (within the rules of the forum, of course).

By all means, criticize! Nobody is saying Disney doesn't make mistakes, there are plenty! I'm saying that it seems like some are fixating on those and it's affecting them.

Daily. Truth. This is immaturity on a non-functioning scale.

It's not a matter of "truth," it's just opinions. That's really all we've got around here, isn't it?

2. Maybe not “better fans”…but more effective ones. They are in a slide and the customers and shareholders can effect change. It can be done. Even if difficult.

I’ll give you examples:
1. Your movies suck because you aren’t delivering for the audience. Make better ones and I’ll show up THEN.
2. Your park system is in shambles - at least in Orlando - I’ll wait to buy anything until the bottomline shows it. Hell…you don’t have to boycott…just reject the bad to hit them. That how economics works. The good is rewarded…the bad fails.

I didn't realize you saw your posting here as activism. Sort of a pressure campaign, I suppose? My way of sending a signal about what I don't like is going to the parks less, spending less, and spending more time on things I enjoy.

 

[Disstevefan1]

See, I think it is more likely that when Chapek got dumped, Imagineering was so depleted that they either had nothing or some really bad projects laid out. Iger said hold it, started building the group back up and let them come up with better alternatives.

I may not like everything he approves, by a long shot, but he was willing to spend money the last 10 years he was CEO on the parks. I doubt this time will be different.


I've said it before, I'll say it again, Peltz is not the answer. Iger is gone in a few years. One extension makes sense because two years is a ridiculously short amount of time to implement massive changes and see any real impact. After four however, things will either be going much better and on the upswing in which case he can ride off into the sunset or it hasn't worked and the board will be forced to dump him.

As I said even if Peltz gets a seat, he will be powerless since the board is full of "Iger lovers"

Iger is never leaving, he will get extension after extension.

His cryogenic chamber is being readied in the utilidors under WDW for when he leaves the board, only by dying, in 30 years or so...

 

[_caleb]

And that’s another pressure point…

I don’t have problem with diversifying the movies and message - it would help if they didn’t make bad movies which they absolutely have - but no ideological opposition

But the customer is always right…which means it’s time to throw it over hard to the left/right

Malfeasance and losing people’s money to double down.

Fix it.

Find a better route

I completely understand "the customer is always right" as a business principle. But I also know that innovation rarely entails just giving people what they say they will pay for.

Some here seems to see Disney as consumers: I like you as long as you're giving me what I want, but as soon as you disappoint me, I'm out. But I guess I approach Disney more like a sports team: you have winning years, you have losing years, managers make good decisions, they make bad decisions. I'm no fairweather fan.

 

[Dranth]

As I said even if Peltz gets a seat, he will be powerless since the board is full of "Iger lovers"

Iger is never leaving, he will get extension after extension.

His cryogenic chamber is being readied in the utilidors under WDW for when he leaves the board, only by dying, in 30 years or so...

The only way he stays past his current contract is if things turn around and are going well. Even then I think he is gone.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I completely understand "the customer is always right" as a business principle. But I also know that innovation rarely entails just giving people what they say they will pay for.

Some here seems to see Disney as consumers: I like you as long as you're giving me what I want, but as soon as you disappoint me, I'm out. But I guess I approach Disney more like a sports team: you have winning years, you have losing years, managers make good decisions, they make bad decisions. I'm no fairweather fan.

Sports fans…no matter what they claim…disengage to a great degree and spend less time/money on the product when they’re in the basement

Disney also functions on a mass model…not a small group of rabid fans.

What do you need to function on a mass model?

The movie analogy isn’t good…because it’s not about innovation. It’s a slightly modified 120 year old medium. You just can’t make crap.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Wow…that’s just raises the game

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The only way he stays past his current contract is if things turn around and are going well. Even then I think he is gone.

He already granted his own extension 6 months into it

For no legitimate reason

Why? To release frozen 5? A trained circus dog could order that

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Main reason is that Chapek basically gutted Imagineering.

Hate Iger all you want, but we did see an incredible amount of new stuff in the parks. in the 5-10 year period prior to COVID.

Here is the problem. Disney was in better shape in 2010 to 2015. Disney was making money on the purchases Iger did as CEO, but Fox is the purchase that Disney really didn't make money off on. Before you mention Fox purchase was for Disney+ Content, Disney+ still hasn't made a profit. Also Disney for the most part in the 2010s made a whole lot of money at the box office. Disney for the most part hasn't made the money at the box office like they did prior to Covid.

What I am painting is Disney had the money to invest into the parks in the 2010s, but you can't say Disney has as much money to put in the parks now due to issues outside of Disney's Parks and resorts division.

Iger overpaid for Fox and caused a lot of long term debt. Debt affects how you invest into your business like it or not. When Covid hit, Disney had to borrow 11 billion dollars in an effort to bolster its financial position at the time.

Based on all the debt Disney has a company, its not exactly easy to invest in the parks. The fact is Disney+ still hasn't made a profit, and 2023 was the worst year for Disney at the box office in a very long time.

 

[MrPromey]

\# a

Wow…that’s just raises the game

my mind is a dark place

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Main reason is that Chapek basically gutted Imagineering.

Have to check the timing on that claim…he wasn’t there long enough to get an elevator pass to the top floor

Hate Iger all you want, but we did see an incredible amount of new stuff in the parks. in the 5-10 year period prior to COVID.

Such as?
Your answer will be graded on quantity and quality

 

[_caleb]

When was the last time the studios "carried the parks"? Take your time. We'll wait.

No need for the snarky "Take your time. We'll wait" bit. It's a conversation, not a rap battle.

When the parks started, all the money came from the studios. Walt was over-leveraged at the time, and the parks were a big gamble (sort of like Disney+ is for the company now). I'm not sure if that was the only time TWDC relied on the studios to keep the parks afloat, but in the 1990s, the studio (under Katzenberg) was more profitable than the parks.

The parks decline started when Iger took over. It accelerated when $lappie was installed as P&R head. The two are intertwined.

I don't think the parks have been on a steady decline under Iger. What metric are you using to determine that?

D'ollar loves to make PR appearances and make the fanbois and fangurls swoon.

This doesn't seem like a kind (or mature) way to talk about people, do you.

If he's been involved with any improvements in the parks, he sure as hell hasn't said a word about it. "Oh but he's invested billions in the parks!" Throwing money at things, without regard for how that money gets spent, is not a strategy or solution.

You may not like how that money was spent, but they've always had a strategy. They explain it on shareholder calls, at press events, and at D23, etc.

I'm not against change, but change for change's sake is not something I'll ever get behind. And that seems to be a hallmark of the Iger era as far as the parks go, along with his movie IP mandate.

This is your perspective, but I don't think they've ever just made changes for the sake of change. I think they do it for the sake of business.

But their IT department is chock full of imbeciles.

I personally know at least one of those imbeciles, and he's a really smart and talented guy.

 

[_caleb]

You seem like a bright boy…but this one escapes you

It is never a good idea to support bad product from a company. Any company. It’s what keeps the field level for the consumers and holds hem to account. It spurs new ideas and innovation. Ultimately it’s good for labor.

You recently went on a WDW vacation. Was that "supporting bad product from a company?" It's not that I don't see the bad (or even talk about the bad), it's that if all I can see is bad, that's when I'll get a different hobby.

 

[_caleb]

I need the receipts.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You recently went on a WDW vacation. Was that "supporting bad product from a company?" It's not that I don't see the bad (or even talk about the bad), it's that if all I can see is bad, that's when I'll get a different hobby.

Most of my was paid for long ago at a good price…

But what was not I’m highly selective about. They’ve probably lost $5-$10+ years from me per year in expenditures over the last 5-8 or so years…when it was clear their decisions and trends headed firmly south

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

View attachment 765275

“Filmed entertainment” is mostly tv, bud

 

[_caleb]

many on these boards that also sincerely believe TWDC is fine as is and should continue business as usual.

Who believes this?