Chapek was the chump from the start. He was supposed to be Iger's puppet until he started doing things on his own. At that point he became the fall guy for the active sabotage that came his way, not only from Iger, but also from the board and his fellow C-Suite snakes.
Oh, Iger is no saint in all of this but it wasn't that Chapek did things Iger didn't want him to do that got him fired. It is that he did things the board told him not to do that proved to be disasters. He was told the reorg was a mistake by nearly every last person who had any knowledge of the company, he did it anyway and sure enough, it was a disaster. He was told no to Peltz because the whole board already knew about Perlmutter's crusade for being slighted, he continued with it anyway. He was told specifically to not p-off the talent, he did. He was told to sign the petition in Florida, he decided on his own not to. To his credit, after being told to make good, he did do that but then went full bone head and decided on his own to cut all funding to campaigns in the state and pick a fight.
Bottom line, had he any business sense, he could have easily outlasted Iger, even used him for his benefit and been in control for many years. Actually, scratch that, despite all his issues, he DID outlast Iger, the problem is he was just terrible at the job.
I thought the article summed it up nicely. After fairly pointing out all the problems and challenges Chapek faced they say this:
"At the same time, he certainly contributed to his own demise. Soon after he was named chief executive, he stopped ingratiating himself with Mr. Iger. And, by the end, nearly his entire executive team had turned against him, even people he’d hired and promoted. So did the board — not just Ms. Catz, skeptical of him from the outset, but also Ms. Arnold, once his strongest defender."
The board is even more loyal and in line with Iger than it's ever been.
Some of those came on when Iger was well on his way out or wasn't even with the company but sure, let's say that is the case as it very well could be. What exactly does that mean? What decision, from a business perspective (not a fans, we all have plenty of those) has Iger made to date that the board should have stepped in about?
Virtually all dissent has been replaced or silenced.
Other than the malcontent Perlmutter, who should of been let go about ten years ago, who did he replace or silence? Daniel? After undoing the reorg his position was gone. McCarthy? She was on Iger's side. Do you mean on the board? I believe Arnold and Catz are the only two that left and one of those two was adamantly against Chapek from the start. Maybe I am forgetting someone but it doesn't look like he cleaned house all that much.
