In a stunning reversal of their initial decision extending his contract, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek was recently replaced. His replacement, for the time being, will be the very man Chapek succeeded two years ago, Bob Iger. This is not meant to be a long-term arrangement. Bob Iger is expected to work in Bob Chapek’s position for the next two years until he can name a new successor. The question remains: why was Bob Iger chosen to return after retirement? In order to understand this, one must look at his 15 years as CEO of Disney.
The resume of Bob Iger cannot be sneezed at. In his 15 years as CEO of Disney, Bob Iger oversaw a vast expansion of Disney, acquiring various intellectual properties including Lucasfilm, Marvel, and 21st Century Fox. However, the real reason he was reappointed to his position of CEO may be his ability to build bridges with people who’ve been long divided.
When Bob Iger became CEO of Disney, Disney was not in a good place. The previous CEO, had failed to get his contract renewed after picking fights with various partners of Disney, including Steve Jobs the head of Pixar. and having He also had an anti-Eisner Save Disney campaign against him by the nephew of Walt Disney himself, Roy Disney. Taking his place, Bob Iger was faced with the difficult task of reconciling Roy Disney and Steve Jobs. Eventually he was able to reconcile with Roy Disney, ending the save Disney campaign, but he faced an even more difficult situation when it came to Steve Jobs. Michael Eisner and Steve Jobs had publicly feuded over the release of various Pixar movies. This conflict came to a peak when Pixar refused to release a film in protest in 2005. To ensure future releases were released with Disney, Bob Iger took the risky decision of making Steve Jobs a major shareholder in Disney. This decision was met with some opposition from the board, but Iger believed it would work to Disney’s benefit in the future. Later, Steve Jobs would help Bob Iger in the acquisition of Marvel. He would then use his relationship with George Lucas when developing Star Tours to acquire Lucasfilm, and persuade the executives of 21st Century Fox about the importance of developing a streaming service to compete with Netflix. He was able to make a merger which resulted in one of the biggest media acquisitions in history. These skills of good communication and conflict resolution allowed Bob Iger to become one of the most powerful and influential Disney executives ever.
These talents are why many believe Iger was called back to Disney to take over from Bob Chapek. Within two years as CEO, Bob Chapek has seen the stock of Disney fall drastically after failing to meet their quota of subscribers on their new Disney + streaming service. They are also now at risk of getting their tax-exempt status revoked at Reedy Creeks, Florida, after publicly opposing the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. With his skills in handling situations such as these, Bob Iger is expected to heal some of the issues and divisions in Disney which have emerged in the two years since his departure. Already, there have been rumors that Disney and Governor Ron Desantis are hoping to work on a resolution that would result in an up-turn on his decision to go against Disney earlier this year. Time will only tell if Bob Iger’s talents as a man of reconciliation will be able to fix the current situation Disney is in.
Works Cited
Hollywood Reporter
CNBC
Vanity Fair
Reuters
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