And let’s just end the next quip: chapek was not a “successor”…he was the only twit with no dignity to hang around and was just “there” when Iger ran.
I think you're right on this. This is my interpretation on how the "succession" was "supposed" to go down...
Being CEO of The Walt Disney Company has many advantages. People in Hollywood, sports, news, etc. all seek you out. Additionally, CEO's of The Walt Disney Company have an impressive opportunity to grow "cults of personality" around themselves. Michael Eisner did this. And Robert Iger also did this. Even fans with a tangential knowledge of the CEO know them and often express adoration. Moreover, being the CEO of The Walt Disney Company is just cool. You get to develop incredible theme park attractions, green light movies and scripts, and work with interesting people every day. It's a sweet gig, that includes a shower in the office!
But being CEO of The Walt Disney Company comes with its fair share of downsides. For one, it's incredibly labor intensive. You need to be on the move and make split-second decisions. You also have to prepare for and attend shareholder meetings and earnings calls. If you say the wrong thing, you can cause the share price to spiral. You also have to handle more mundane operational challenges and negotiations that might not be very stimulating. But like any job, you have to take the bad with the good.
Or do you?
Sometime in 2018 or 2019, Iger came up with a brilliant plan. In fact, it might have popped into his head years earlier, but for sure it crystalized in 2018 or 2019. Iger believed he could keep the benefits of being CEO while jettisoning the disadvantages. How? Simple, he would become the company's new Executive Chairman. As Executive Chairman, Iger would have control of the part of the business he loves. He would be able to hire creatives, greenlight projects, hang out at star-studded parties, and give feedback on Disney Parks rides. All the day to day minutia of being CEO would be out of his purview.
But there was just one thing he needed... A CEO candidate.
Iger needed someone to fill the CEO position who had shown a lack of interest in creative matters. He needed someone who had spent his life working diligently and competently in the shadows. Someone who would not create a new "cult of personality" surrounding himself. Why? Because they were both uninterested and just not charismatic enough to create one. Iger would still be the star and leader of the relationship. What he needed was a "little Bob" to take over the boring parts of being a CEO.
And Iger found his man in Bob Chapek.
Chapek seemed like the perfect choice. He would never upstage Iger. He had shown ambition in his life, but not enough to be threatening to Iger. Anyone who saw the two executives together knew who was the leader. It was perfect. Or so Iger thought...
Most individuals at Team Disney in Burbank worship the ground Iger walks on. His effectiveness at creating a cult of personalty at HQ was incredible. That's how you get lines like "Iger is the best thing to happen creatively to The Walt Disney Company since the days of Walt Disney" and Iger being a "creative North Star." He has a lock on most people in Burbank. Iger became used to this quasi-deification. In a way, he began to take it for granted. That made him blind to Chapek's ambitions.
Chapek's tenure at The Walt Disney Company can be characterized by patience. He slowly ascended the corporate ladder over a period of decades. While he seemed to be amongst the most loyal foot soldiers, he actually was an incredibly ambitious individual in his own right. What Iger perceived as weakness and malleability, was actually Chapek's disciplined patience. This is in no way an attempt to lionize the man who brought us such awful attractions as Pixar Pier. Instead, it is to give proper credit where credit is due. Chapek was not simply automaton that Iger could order around at will. Instead, he wanted control of the firm.
Iger's brilliant plan to eject the boring responsibilities of managing the company onto a hapless lackey, suddenly were thrown into chaos. Iger had been planning to stay on as Executive Chairman for at least two years. Personally, I suspect that he would have happily extended the contract over and over again. Why not? He had all the fun perks of the job and was being paid handsomely. But almost immediately, Chapek began to clash with Iger. Instead of happily receiving Iger's advice and directives, Chapek was interested in wresting away power from Iger's diminishing area of responsibility.
Iger suddenly found himself increasingly isolated, disrespected, and powerless. To make matters worse, he also started to lose the influence he so loves in Hollywood. People stopped meeting with him as frequently. It turns out that in order to have the perks of the CEO job, Iger needed to actually be the CEO after all.
At some point, he began to orchestrate a coup against Chapek with disgruntled executives at Disney. The executives would take their issues directly to the board, thus circumventing Chapek. The rudderless and hapless board panicked, and took the advice of the renegade executives. Iger would be back at work in a matter of a few days.
Will he leave this time? He has described the last few years as being some of the most difficult in his career. He might be legitimately burning out. But I think it's wise to question the 2026 date. Who knows? Maybe Iger will find the right CEO for him to "manage" as Executive Chairman this time...
” without even knowing the history. Peltz is trouble but his block isn’t big enough. If someone huge funds back him? Yikes…then we’re all wrong here and last one our shut the lights off.
