In surprise move, Iger steps down as Disney CEO
Bob Iger abruptly stepped aside as Walt Disney Co.’s chief executive officer (CEO), handing the reins to theme-parks head Bob Chapek after years of speculation over who would succeed the long-time CEO of the world’s largest entertainment company.
Chapek, 60, who led Disney’s theme parks and consumer products businesses, takes over immediately, the company said Tuesday. Iger will stay to direct the company’s creative endeavours as executive chairman through 2021.
With the appointment, Chapek lands one of the most coveted jobs in entertainment. He’s a 27-year company veteran who led Disney’s homevideo business during the DVD era, before transitioning to consumer products. In that role, he reorganized the business to cut costs and focus on franchises, including the Frozen toy craze.
The change jolted investors, who sent the shares down 2.3% to $125.30 in premarket trading Wednesday.
In an interview on Bloomberg Television, Chapek said he’ll follow the course laid out by Iger, who has recently steered the company into new streaming businesses such as Disney+. “The center of our brand is creative storytelling,” Chapek said. “If the creative storytelling is right, then everything else is right, no matter where you put it, whether you put it in the theatrical channel, Disney+ or the theme parks.”
While Disney had been under pressure to name a successor, Iger wasn’t expected to relinquish the CEO role right away. The timing of the announcement, just weeks after an upbeat earnings report, created an air of mystery around a transition that has been frequent parlour talk in Hollywood. Disney has bet its future on streaming services, including the Disney+ platform that launched in November. That had fueled speculation that its streaming chief, Kevin Mayer, was in line for the CEO job.
On a call with investors on Tuesday, Iger said the transition will allow him to focus on creative endeavors at the company in a way that he couldn’t when he was still running the business day-to-day. Chapek, on the other hand, will be able to immediately immerse himself in businesses he hasn’t run before, such as television.