Disney brings back CEO who shuttered ‘Ice Age’ animator in the state

In a surprise reversal on the eve of its 100th anniversary and the winter tourism season, Disney’s board of directors announced it is bringing Bob Iger back as CEO, replacing Bob Chapek whose tenure in the top job less than three years included controversy.

In a press release, Disney stated Iger is “uniquely situated” to lead Disney during “an increasingly complex” stretch of change in the entertainment industry, without singling out any specific moves by Chapek that may have led the board to question his leadership. Iger’s marching orders include finding a fresh replacement within two years.

In a memo to employees posted by Variety, Iger said he looked on his own return with “a bit of amazement” — which Variety reported was matched by some employees, who indicated they had suspected a phishing scheme after the announcement hit their email.

“I know this company has asked so much of you during the past three years, and these times certainly remain quite challenging, but as you have heard me say before, I am an optimist,” Iger’s memo stated as reported by Variety. “If I learned one thing from my years at Disney, it is that even in the face of uncertainty — perhaps especially in the face of uncertainty — our employees and Cast Members achieve the impossible.”

Under Chapek, Disney revenue totaled $82.7 billion for its recently concluded 2022 fiscal year, up 19 percent from 2019 prior to the disruptions caused to its tourism businesses by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Burbank, Calif.-based giant has yet to see an accompanying rebound in profits, with earnings of $2.5 billion this year barely erasing its loss of 2020, but amounting to only a fraction of the $11.6 billion in profits in 2019.

Disney owns ESPN, with Hearst Corp. a minority shareholder in the Bristolbased sports network.

From his prior post leading Disney theme parks, Chapek inherited the top job from Iger in February 2020, two weeks after Disney disclosed plans to shutter Blue Sky Studios in Greenwich which it had picked up in an acquisition of media assets from 21st Century Fox. Iger had stayed on as executive chairman through the end of last year.

Under Iger, Disney chose to scrap Blue Sky to maintain its focus on Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, despite Blue Sky’s “Ice Age” franchise that had been a proven winner at the box office. But Iger splurged on other major franchise investments that have paid for Disney, including “Marvel” in 2009 and “Star Wars” in 2012, with both deals costing the company $4 billion.

Earlier this month month, the Marvel feature film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” had the 13th best opening weekend of all time at $181 million, according to Box Office Pro. Disney has a potential blockbuster on deck in mid-December with the release of “Avatar: The Way of Water”.

In his final conference call as CEO in early November, Chapek gave no indication of any change in the works in the corner office, while reiterating his belief in ESPN’s role in the Disney universe that continues its transition to streaming platforms via Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.

“ESPN continues to lead with its multi-platform sports ecosystem — with reach across linear, streaming, digital, and social media, serving fans at massive scale, with the power and support of the Walt Disney Co. behind it,” Chapek said. “ESPN is an unequaled ‘reach’ machine.”