Former CEO Bob Iger on His & Disney’s Future

There have been a lot of rumors, speculation, and predictions about the future of former CEO Bob Iger as he prepares to leave the Walt Company in 10 days. Against that backdrop, the current chairman has embarked on a media tour to set the stage for his departure, control the media narrative, and write his own fairytale ending.

As we’ve said several times in the last few years, DisneyWar is well overdue for a sequel or three. The original book chronicled the rise and fall of CEO Michael Eisner, but didn’t really capture the ascension of CEO Bob Iger, him righting the ship, acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox, or anything beyond that.

Iger’s early days helming Disney would make for a fascinating read. As would the trials and tribulations of Walt Disney World’s NextGen initiative. Same goes for the struggles in bringing Shanghai Disneyland to fruition (not to mention its ongoing operations). Or in the rise and fall of Jay Rasulo, Tom Staggs, Kevin Mayer, and more. Then there’s the roller coaster career of Bob Chapek, who suddenly went from head of Parks & Resorts to CEO when Bob Iger abruptly stepped down.

Speaking of which, Bob Iger resigned as the Walt Disney Company’s CEO, and assumed the role of Executive Chairman in late February 2020. In that newly-established role, Iger was to direct creative endeavors, lead the Board of Directors, provide the full benefit of his experience, and work towards ensuring a smooth and successful transition for the next two years—through the end of his contract on December 31, 2021.

At the time, we offered extensive commentary about Bob Iger stepping down to the Executive Chairman role and Chapek ascending to the CEO position. We’re skeptical about motivations at the time, as the abrupt move didn’t exactly comport with Disney’s normal modus operandi.

With the benefit of hindsight, it now seems more likely than not that the Walt Disney Company’s senior management knew about the economic dire straits on the horizon that would lead to the closure of all theme parks less than one month later. It’s easy to forget, but two of the company’s parks had already been closed for a month at that point, as had all theaters in the world’s second-largest economy.

It would’ve been reasonably opportune timing for both Bobs. Iger leaves with his legacy of growth and success cemented, while Chapek takes the helm of the Walt Disney Company during a tough time. But also amidst circumstances that were beyond Chapek’s control, meaning lowered expectations and with his “success” graded on a curve rather than against Iger’s towering legacy.

In retrospect, to the extent that any miscalculation was made, it might’ve actually been on Iger’s part in underestimating the resilience of the Walt Disney Company–and its stock. Despite billions of dollars in losses and a sharp drop since early November that puts it down nearly 20% for the year, Disney’s stock price is still higher today than it was in the days before Iger announced his departure.

In the last year-plus, there has also been nearly nonstop palace intrigue about the tensions between Bob Chapek and Bob Iger. Only a couple months after he stepped down, the New York Times reported that Bob Iger returned after riding off into the sunset, and began reasserting control at Disney.

Earlier this year, Variety published a story titled “Disney’s New World Order Leads to Confusion and Bruised Egos.” Since then, there have been several more articles about the tensions between Bob Iger and Bob Chapek. All of this was exacerbated by the bombshell Black Widow lawsuit filed by Scarlett Johansson against Disney, with insiders blaming CEO Bob Chapek for the handling of that embarrassing incident.

There have been plenty of stories since, with the salient point being that Hollywood executives and talent were skeptical of Chapek, his ability to cultivate relationships, and his overall leadership. The very existence of so many pieces probably was not coincidental–Iger has always carefully choreographed messaging and his public image.

Iger’s loyal lieutenants in the company, many of whom have not-so-coincidentally announced their departures in the last several months since these stories have “leaked,” are masterful at corporate communications. They never passes up the opportunity to take control of and manipulate the narrative. In short, the pieces wouldn’t have been written if Iger didn’t want them out there. Which brings us to the present.

Over the a weekend, CNBC spoke to 10 media executives who made anonymous predictions, including that Bob Iger would return as Disney CEO.

The basis for that prediction was pretty flimsy: that Disney’s board and Iger may get restless if Disney+ growth stagnates and the company continues to have turf tensions between executives. However, that didn’t stop the rumor mill from going into overdrive, as this prediction comports with some of what’s been intimated in the last year–and what many fans want to believe will happen.

Whether as an indirect response to that, adding more fuel to the fire, or totally coincidental as part of his farewell, Bob Iger did interviews with Variety and CNBC today–after his last day on the Disney lot in Burbank yesterday.

During the CNBC interview, Iger said that it’s time for him to have a “blank canvas” and be forced to be more imaginative. He indicated he wanted to be an adviser to start-ups, has been sought after by some companies already, but will see where life takes him.

In these interviews, Iger was asked about how Chapek would fill his rather large void.

Here’s the response he gave to CNBC (which is basically the same as his answer to Variety’s question on the same): “Look, the world is changing dramatically, and it’s important for the CEO of a company to address all of those changes rapidly,” Iger said. “Bob [Chapek] is going to address them probably differently perhaps than I may have. But that’s neither good nor bad. I think change, I think generally speaking, change is good. Change isn’t necessarily bad.”

Iger also told CNBC that he began thinking about stepping down as Disney’s CEO after feeling he was becoming too dismissive of other people’s opinions. “Over time, I started listening less and maybe with a little less tolerance of other people’s opinions, maybe because of getting a little bit more overconfident in my own, which is sometimes what happens when you get built up.”

Iger didn’t speak about specific decisions, just that he was increasingly invalidating points from co-workers because he’d “heard every argument before.” However, he realized “times change,” and said he was saying no too quickly. “I became a little bit more dismissive of other people’s opinions than I should have been,” said Iger. “That was an early sign that it was time. It wasn’t the reason I left, but it was a contributing factor.”

Iger also spoke at length about his acquisition strategy for Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox. He credited those transactions on his intense focus on building personal relationships. (Perhaps an indirect slight on Chapek’s inability to do the same.)

Iger told CNBC that he spent months personally getting to know Apple and Pixar founder Steve Jobs, Star Wars creator George Lucas, former Marvel Chairman Ike Perlmutter, and Fox controlling shareholder Rupert Murdoch. “It’s development of a relationship,” he said. “I didn’t do the deal myself, but it was singular in terms of the pursuit, one on one in some cases, being as candid as I possibly could be, and I think as authentic as I could be, and developing a relationship, even if it was developed over a relatively brief period of time.” Iger said he had to convince founders that he wouldn’t disappoint them after completing an acquisition.

Ultimately, these are all interesting reads and it’s likely we haven’t heard the last of Bob Iger (definitely not, as he’s working on another book). Since February of last year, our position has been that Bob Chapek is a placeholder CEO–a hatchet man brought in to make difficult and unpopular decisions that would help Disney emerge as a stronger and leaner company. That it was likely even Chapek knew the score, and what he’d have to overcome in order to have a legacy and tenure on par with Bob Iger or even Michael Eisner.

Despite that, I’m also skeptical that Bob Iger has any future with the Walt Disney Company in 2022 or beyond. For the last year-plus, it seems like Iger did want to leave his options open, with leaks lending credence to the notion that he could return. However, this is starting to feel like a “real” farewell tour–and I write this as someone who put “even odds” on Iger reclaiming the CEO role back in April 2020.

Iger clearly has ambitions beyond Disney, and I suspect we’re seeing the beginnings of a publicity campaign for him setting those into motion. That likely entails NBA team ownership (he has a great relationship with NBA commissioner Adam Silver) and ambitions in Silicon Valley, but his presidential and other political aspirations appear to be totally off the table.

With all of that said, Iger not returning to the Walt Disney Company doesn’t mean Bob Chapek is the company’s long-term leader. But it also doesn’t mean he isn’t! Although we Walt Disney World and Disneyland fans might like to believe otherwise, it’s likely that Chapek’s fortunes rise and fall with the Disney+ streaming service.

The growth of Disney+ is what matters most to Wall Street, with far less emphasis placed on the legacy business units. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the streaming market is oversaturated; Disney+ subscriber numbers are starting to plateau after beating expectations quarter after quarter. Still, I wouldn’t bet against Disney in the streaming wars, especially armed with those franchises and intellectual property that Iger cultivated and acquired!

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YOUR THOUGHTS

What are your thoughts on the Bob Iger v. Bob Chapek saga? Think we’ve heard the last of Iger leading the Walt Disney Company? Suspect there’s more to the story or any truth to the rumors/predictions that Chapek’s tenure as CEO will be comparatively short? Who would you like to see be Disney’s next leader? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!