Bob Iger Steps Down as CEO, Chapek to Succeed Iger as CEO

[Searc]

Iger announced he will remain as Executive Chairman of the Board and will oversee the "creative" aspects of the company. Sounds like he will stay on with Disney through at least the end of 2021.

He doesn't have a choice, unless he's willing to give up his VERY juicy golden parachute.

 

[Dis Dragon]

Like it or not, Disney needed more IPs to expand their consumer base, and particularly for the parks, to answer HP at Uni. But, I am very skeptical of Chapek’s ability to create magic.

Chapek's Magic is the ability to create money, not magic.

 

[rteetz]

It's pretty much the entire reason for it...
2 theme parks closed for months
China's entire movie theater network also closed (and probably to be followed by other countries)
ABDs needing to be canceled left and right
China's factory shutdowns (can you say toys and merchandise shortages)

It's gonna be an ugly quarter...and it seems like it will get worse the next one, not better...

It's not that corona has killed a lot of people...but it has killed a lot of business in Disney's core fields...Disney+ should help bail out some of the numbers, but it's gonna be ugly...

Disney is not the majority owner in either of those parks.

If you are uncertain about where the company was headed why would the board approve someone new right now rather than wait this out with their proven leader?

 

[MommaBerd]

Have nothing planned to WDW in the next few years and this will definitely delay me even further. Prices are going to get even worse and the parks will suffer greatly. Thank goodness Epic Universe is coming!

I don’t believe it will be THIS dire.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It is interesting to me that there was no big rumors of changes coming. The fact Chapek has no film/TV background is also very interesting. Kevin Meyer would've been my first thought.

Now who will lead Parks and resorts?

Lets also not forget Iger is not leaving tomorrow.

And so soon after the shift in park leadership with Josh D'Amaro just coming over to WDW. He would be my pick to run all of parks (though not sure if he has background for the consumer products part) but would they move him up so soon after moving him to WDW?

 

[JARNJ3]

It's pretty much the entire reason for it...
2 theme parks closed for months
China's entire movie theater network also closed (and probably to be followed by other countries)
ABDs needing to be canceled left and right
China's factory shutdowns (can you say toys and merchandise shortages)

It's gonna be an ugly quarter...and it seems like it will get worse the next one, not better...

It's not that corona has killed a lot of people...but it has killed a lot of business in Disney's core fields...Disney+ should help bail out some of the numbers, but it's gonna be ugly...

Everything is so interconnected now. But this still doesn't explain the abrupt, out of the blue announcement. Unless this is the ideal way, and we're just not used to it!

 

[AggieDizzer]

Have nothing planned to WDW in the next few years and this will definitely delay me even further. Prices are going to get even worse and the parks will suffer greatly. Thank goodness Epic Universe is coming!

I will still gladly take your place in line. Enjoy Universal!

 

[TwoMisfits]

Disney is not the majority owner in either of those parks.

If you are uncertain about where the company was headed why would the board approve someone new right now rather than wait this out with their proven leader?

B/c the leader wanted out...and didn't want to take the flak for what's coming...

Unpopular cuts are coming...stockholders will also not be happy...it's not something Iger might want in his last year, so he says he'll stay in a reduced form, but he's out from the top...

Disney probably had to convince Iger to stay in any form...but he won't say that publicly...

 

[SensesFailed]

The question would be what is Walt's dream? Epcot isn't what Walt dreamed up. Disney isn't what Walt had these days either. It's arguably the largest entertainment company in the world.

And depending on what people mean when they say "Walt's dream", Disney could look vastly different than it does today and might not even be at the level that they are today. I mean, Walt Disney died in 1966, the way things worked in 1966 and now are vastly different. For all we know, Walt could have easily just as changed his vision and moved forward with the times, which is what the company had to do to stay afloat during some of it's rougher periods.

 

[The Pho]

B/c the leader wanted out...and didn't want to take the flak for what's coming...

Unpopular cuts are coming...stockholders will also not be happy...it's not something Iger might want in his last year, so he says he'll stay in a reduced form, but he's out from the top...

Disney probably had to convince Iger to stay in any form...but he won't say that publicly...

Yep it was just starting to get rocky for a CEO on his way out the door. He probably just didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Shift roles, and take a lighter workload for the end.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If anything, the coronavirus impact would be a reason to not announce a change of CEO. It would ensure investors that the guy who has guided great growth over past 20 years would see Disney through this. Something happened in the last couple of days that forced this decision to be announced now. Either Iger is sick or there is some big issues somewhere outside of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products that we don't know about at this time.

Maybe Chapek was getting courted by another company and they had to do this now to keep him

 

[Farro]

Have nothing planned to WDW in the next few years and this will definitely delay me even further. Prices are going to get even worse and the parks will suffer greatly. Thank goodness Epic Universe is coming!

Nah. We're still going for 2021 and plan to have an excellent time.

 

[rteetz]

B/c the leader wanted out...and didn't want to take the flak for what's coming...

Unpopular cuts are coming...stockholders will also not be happy...it's not something Iger might want in his last year, so he says he'll stay in a reduced form, but he's out from the top...

Disney probably had to convince Iger to stay in any form...but he won't say that publicly...

For Wall Street, the board, and many inside Disney, Iger is looked at as a savior. He took over during the bad Eisner period and revived Disney into the biggest entertainment company in the world. Iger has wanted to leave Disney for years. He is still bound with the Fox deal as he was supposed to stay into 2021 because of that. The board went through a search and determined Chapek was the guy. So there was no convincing to be had.

 

[Linkura]

What a disaster.

And there's no Dis Unplugged WDW show next week... Might have to wait two weeks before we get a Pete meltdown over this.

 

[MommaBerd]

Yep it was just starting to get rocky for a CEO on his way out the door. He probably just didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Shift roles, and take a lighter workload for the end.

Totally agree with this!!! And, honestly, I don’t blame him!

 

[MikeNamez]

Nah. We're still going for 2021 and plan to have an excellent time.

Nice! I don't book that far in advance, no need to. Maybe if I'm down in 2021 for HHN I'll stop over (probably not, but never know)

 

[sweetpea904]

On the next episode of the DIS Unplugged Pete loses his mind...

I can't wait for tomorrow's show!!!

 

[MommaBerd]

Maybe Chapek was getting courted by another company and they had to do this now to keep him

That’s an interesting theory...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

On the plus side, distracts from the arguing over Boarding Groups

 

[hertamaniac]

Have nothing planned to WDW in the next few years and this will definitely delay me even further. Prices are going to get even worse and the parks will suffer greatly. Thank goodness Epic Universe is coming!

And I'm looking forward to the WDW response to Epic Universe after the 50th. The new CEO better have a battle plan ready to compete against EU.