Plumes of white smoke emanated from the dining hall at Sun Valley, indicating that a CEO for Disney has been named. And, wouldja believe it? It’s Bob Iger again. Iger’s contract as CEO of the Walt Disney Company has been extended through the end of 2026, per Deadline. In 2022, Iger said he’d only serve two years and pick a new successor by 2024. Looks like that’s not happening.
Iger first became the CEO of the Walt Disney Company in 2005 after the contentious ouster of Michael Eisner. He filled that position until 2020, when Bob Chapek took over. Chapek’s brief tenure was marked with problems: COVID, the underperformance of Disney+, the nickel-and-dime-ification of the theme parks, and a lawsuit with Scarlett Johansson over Black Widow. With the company’s stock falling, Iger was asked by then-Chairperson Susan Arnold to come back to the company.
Iger said he’d right the Disney ship and find a new successor in two years, but the first year of his latest CEO stint hasn’t been the overwhelming success some were expecting. Disney+ and Hulu continue to weigh on the company. Iger has taken a play from David Zaslav’s book and the streamers have memory-holed a number of shows as tax write-downs. Chapek was known as not being the most creative-friendly exec in town, while Iger is known as being much more chummy. Yet one of the first things Iger did was lay off 7,000 workers. The 2023 WGA strike has also hit the company, and Iger was one of the CEOs who asked for a federal mediator in the AMPTP’s talks with SAG-AFTRA. The search for a successor is also lagging, with Disney CFO Christine McCarthy being the latest potential candidate to leave the company.
“I believe Disney’s long-term future is incredibly bright,†Iger said in a statement. “But there is more to accomplish before this transformative work is complete, and because I want to ensure Disney is strongly positioned when my successor takes the helm, I have agreed to the board’s request to remain CEO for an additional two years. The importance of the succession process cannot be overstated, and as the board continues to evaluate a highly qualified slate of internal and external candidates, I remain intensely focused on a successful transition.â€