Disney’s CEO Iger extends his contract

Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger has extended his contract by one year as the company’s board of directors continues to search for his replacement.

Iger, 66, previously was slated to leave the company at the end of June 2018. His new deal ends July 2, 2019. The extension, Iger’s third since he became CEO in 2005, had been widely expected. It gives Disney’s board more time to search for a successor — a process that has been closely watched by investors who’ve expressed concern over the apparent lack of progress on the issue.

With few obvious internal candidates, the board seems increasingly likely to look outside of Disney for its next chief executive. Replacing Iger will not be a simple task: Disney has enjoyed an extended run of success under the CEO, and seen its stock price more than quadruple on his watch.

In an appearance just hours after the contract news was announced Thursday, Iger said he was “serious this time around” about this being his last extension, and acknowledged the complexities of finding his successor.

“Succession is a complicated thing and we felt, meaning the board and I, [that] we could use more time to not only to spend on succession but to create a better transition so we mutually agreed to add another year,” said Iger at the SCALE technology and entertainment conference, which was hosted by the USC Marshall and Annenberg schools.

Wall Street did not react strongly to Iger’s new pact — shares of Disney rose 16 cents to $112.24 — possibly because the extension was considered a fait accompli among investors. But analysts were nevertheless happy about the decision.

“Investors will be pretty pleased with this,” said analyst Robin Diedrich of Edward Jones Research. “Shareholders and we would agree that he is doing a pretty good job, so it is nice to see that this is confirmed now that he will stay on.”

Iger