Walt Disney board extends Iger's contract as Chairman and CEO through June 2018

[WDW1974]

Wasn't NextGen Rasulo's baby primarily? I know he was long gone by the time the bands hit the fan, but the initial greenlighting and conceptual stuff was all his IIRC, then Staggs just rubberstamped it.

Jay Rasulo via Nick 'Already the NGE Fall Guy'' Franklin and egged on by Jim 'I Really Want to Keep Working For Disney' MacPhee.

I wouldn't be surprised if MacPhee's over/under on time remaining with Disney could be measured in weeks now.

 

[WDW1974]

I'm so glad those on the internet don't run the company. Disney is MUCH more then a few parks. Since he took over as CEO the stock has increased over 200%. Let's also not forget the sheer amount of intellectual property the company has also been able to purchase, PIXAR, Marvel, LucasArts. While the choices made at the theme park level might not be to everyone's liking the company as a whole is doing a ton better now then it was under Eisner, even in his heyday.

I'm so glad we have folks like you that come in to set us ignorant rubes straight by quoting stock prices.

Did you forget to remind us all that Disney is a business? Cause you know it wasn't a business in 1928, 1956, 1976, 1987, 1998 etc.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Great.

 

[WDW1974]

Wait avatar wont be open by 2018? I Thought the land had a 2017 opening..

I was talking about SW ... although Pandora may well open in phases and since George K is on the record saying ''late 2017'' opening to start ... you can figure it out.

 

[WDW1974]

Great.

Sarcasm.

It's what's for dinner on the Spirit's menu nightly!

 

[Mike S]

I was talking about SW ... although Pandora may well open in phases and since George K is on the record saying ''late 2017'' opening to start ... you can figure it out.

I hate this phased opening nonsense. Of course there will be fanboys defending this to no end.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I've read most of the responses here. For those who bring up what Iger has done for the company financially, those of us who are upset aren't necessarily bothered by that. At least I'm not. As a business man, he's done a lot of great things. I couldn't care less about that, though. What bothers me is Iger, as well as others, couldn't give a $h!t about the legacy and what this company was founded on. I can see a lot of you don't care about things like that, but a lot of us do, and it sucks to see people in the company who just don't care. Iger is one of those people, unfortunately.

I see a lot of posts here about how much better Disneyland is than WDW. I don't know if that's true or not, but I grew up going to Disneyland, watching lots of Walt-era programs and learning lots about Disneyland. I appreciate its history very much, and slowly, but surely, I see its legacy and history being taken away. The CM parties were taken away, Club 33 is a mess, New Orleans Square just isn't the same and Tomorrowland is a gigantic mess, and it will be worse if Star Wars is expanded there (I find that so depressing). I hear rumors of Autopia going away, and I can see that happening, which is sad. Apparently they're thinking of taking out the last opening day attraction in Tomorrowland...for Star Wars. Wow. And Marvel has no place in Disneyland, let alone Tomorrowland.

It's obvious and very clear that Iger and others just don't care about things like history, legacy and tradition. It's all about profit now and how they can make a quick buck; it's sickening and upsetting. This is the main reason why I'm not happy Mr. Iger has extended his stay. And it's not just the theme parks. I see the greed with a lot of other parts of the company, including the Disney Channel, merchandise, etc.

 

[Sped2424]

I was talking about SW ... although Pandora may well open in phases and since George K is on the record saying ''late 2017'' opening to start ... you can figure it out.

Ewww phases again...You think they would have learned how terrible that was the first time. I am surprised james cameron is okay with that. But wow if star wars still isn't going anywhere by 2018 that would be crazy, the new film comes out in a year. by 2018 episode 8 will have already hit theaters.

 

[Mike S]

I've read most of the responses here. For those who bring up what Iger has done for the company financially, those of us who are upset aren't necessarily bothered by that. At least I'm not. As a business man, he's done a lot of great things. I couldn't care less about that, though. What bothers me is Iger, as well as others, couldn't give a $h!t about the legacy and what this company was founded on. I can see a lot of you don't care about things like that, but a lot of us do, and it sucks to see people in the company who just don't care. Iger is one of those people, unfortunately.

I see a lot of posts here about how much better Disneyland is than WDW. I don't know if that's true or not, but I grew up going to Disneyland, watching lots of Walt-era programs and learning lots about Disneyland. I appreciate its history very much, and slowly, but surely, I see its legacy and history being taken away. The CM parties were taken away, Club 33 is a mess, New Orleans Square just isn't the same and Tomorrowland is a gigantic mess, and it will be worse if Star Wars is expanded there (I find that so depressing). I hear rumors of Autopia going away, and I can see that happening, which is sad. Apparently they're thinking of taking out the last opening day attraction in Tomorrowland...for Star Wars. Wow. And Marvel has no place in Disneyland, let alone Tomorrowland.

It's obvious and very clear that Iger and others just don't care about things like history, legacy and tradition. It's all about profit now and how they can make a quick buck; it's sickening and upsetting. This is the main reason why I'm not happy Mr. Iger has extended his stay. And it's not just the theme parks. I see the greed with a lot of other parts of the company, including the Disney Channel, merchandise, etc.

I thought the rumors were that Toontown was getting replaced by Star Wars. Also I guess it's easy to forget Disneyland's problems when we're so focused on Disney World here. Sad I'll never see New Orleans Square in its original form.

 

[Captain Neo]

Iger is investing more meaningfully into WDW's future than Michael "overbuilder" Eisner did in his last 10 years at the top.

 

[SirLink]

Iger is investing more meaningfully into WDW's future than Michael "overbuilder" Eisner did in his last 10 years at the top.

Hahaha. OK pal ... what has Iger done that was meaningful? Overbuilding DVC and the stupidity of MT+ ... hardly meaningful unless you mean kneecapping which he has done to great effect.

 

[SirLink]

But, as the spirit would say, The Walt Disney Company needs a thorough enema badly.

True but your not going to get that with employing within you need to go outside.

 

[jsim6283]

Under Iger, Disney has repurchased a tad over 1 billion shares of Disney stock, worth a bit over $88 billion at today's closing price.

Perhaps that has more than a bit to do with Disney's current market cap?

Share buybacks have very little to do with market cap. Share prices go up as a result of buybacks, but since the number of outstanding shares goes down, there's no impact.

I know it's not convenient for the Iger haters, but the market cap increase is absolutely a result of the substantial growth in the company's profitability under his watch.

 

[Darth Sidious]

http://m.wsj.com/articles/companies-stock-buybacks-help-buoy-the-market-1410823441?mobile=y

@WDW1974 @ParentsOf4

Look who is on the chart. For anyone advocating stock buybacks, what that should say to you is that the company cannot invest in themselves and increase shareholder returns that way. I know 74 and ParentsOf4 will agree with this but Disney certainly could create value by investing in the company. The fact that they chose to pursue a buyback program says this: Disney management isn't focused on long term organic growth.

Anyone want to guess how much Google has bought back? Oh, yes that's correct nothing. http://www.vuru.co/analysis/GOOG/dividendsBuybacks

 

[Darth Sidious]

Added note: the buybacks shouldn't increase market cap. The market cap should stay the same.

 

[AMartin767]

And the destruction of WDW goes on.... *Sigh*

 

[DisUniversal]

Oh I guess he is getting one less vote then for sure

...and if it situation were reversed, would he be getting the vote for that reason alone?

 

[ChrisFL]

This is Great news................for Universal

 

[alphac2005]

Somewhat surprised this wasn't announced on a late Friday afternoon...

Quite the opposite, this is one that they want to have out there with bells and whistles... We know of the many faults that are going on with the company, but Iger has helped make a lot of big investors a lot of money during his reign and they want that to continue. Long-term means nothing. This is a great announcement for those who want to continue to see short-term gains. Honestly, even with all the problems in FL, LucasFilm is barely integrated and Iger knows that there is a massive windfall coming from that acquisition within the next year and a half. He'll leave high up on his horse with LucasFilm, Shanghai, etc.

 

[alphac2005]

I've read most of the responses here. For those who bring up what Iger has done for the company financially, those of us who are upset aren't necessarily bothered by that. At least I'm not. As a business man, he's done a lot of great things. I couldn't care less about that, though. What bothers me is Iger, as well as others, couldn't give a $h!t about the legacy and what this company was founded on. I can see a lot of you don't care about things like that, but a lot of us do, and it sucks to see people in the company who just don't care. Iger is one of those people, unfortunately.

I see a lot of posts here about how much better Disneyland is than WDW. I don't know if that's true or not, but I grew up going to Disneyland, watching lots of Walt-era programs and learning lots about Disneyland. I appreciate its history very much, and slowly, but surely, I see its legacy and history being taken away. The CM parties were taken away, Club 33 is a mess, New Orleans Square just isn't the same and Tomorrowland is a gigantic mess, and it will be worse if Star Wars is expanded there (I find that so depressing). I hear rumors of Autopia going away, and I can see that happening, which is sad. Apparently they're thinking of taking out the last opening day attraction in Tomorrowland...for Star Wars. Wow. And Marvel has no place in Disneyland, let alone Tomorrowland.

It's obvious and very clear that Iger and others just don't care about things like history, legacy and tradition. It's all about profit now and how they can make a quick buck; it's sickening and upsetting. This is the main reason why I'm not happy Mr. Iger has extended his stay. And it's not just the theme parks. I see the greed with a lot of other parts of the company, including the Disney Channel, merchandise, etc.

Iger's reign can be easily summed up to us purists: He took the name and legacy of the company, Walt Disney, and has rapidly turned the company into Ford. Ford is simply Ford to most. For many decades, Ford was about the innovator and creator Henry Ford. Disney is nothing but a brand now. When my four year old says Disney, he might as well say McDonald's, Best Buy, whatever, it's just a name. Disney was one of the last brands that was tied to an innovator (with their namesake) and espoused incredible loyalty.