Bob Iger is out as Disney’s chief executive, effective immediately. The company announced the change on Tuesday in a press release, and it hit the media industry like a shock wave. Bob Chapek, who ran the lucrative parks unit, takes over as CEO.
Iger stays on as executive chairman through December 2021 and will keep directing Disney’s content creation, arguably the most important role in the company. On a call with investors he said the move lets him concentrate on the creative side, something he could not do as CEO. The timing, he said, was “not accelerated by any particular reason.”
A succession long in the making
Iger said two questions drove the decision: how best to run the company as it stands, and how best to manage the succession and handover. Making the change now, he said, gave the best outcome. The board had seen Chapek as his successor “for some time now,” Iger added, and the early switch gives the two men more time to work together before 2021.
The surprise was in the timing, not the plan. Iger said at Disney’s investor conference last year, “2021 will be the time for me to finally step down.”
Chapek got a job that at least half a dozen of Iger’s current and former deputies had wanted.
What Iger built
Iger became president and chief operating officer in 2000 and CEO in 2005, succeeding Michael Eisner. Eisner’s tenure ended after a shareholder revolt led by Roy E. Disney, a nephew of Walt Disney, who wanted management shaken up.
Under Iger the company went on an acquisition spree. It now holds one of the deepest libraries of family-friendly content in media, including Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm. He also steered it into streaming and through the purchase of Fox’s entertainment business, a deal worth $52.4 billion when announced.
Market reaction
Disney stock fell about 2.7 percent in after-hours trading. The news was at least a short-term blow to Kevin Mayer, who runs the streaming business and was seen by many as a possible successor. Some speculation held that Mayer could still reach the top job if Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses, which include Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu, succeed.
